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ANNA BOLENA BY FELICE ROMANI: THE LIBRETTO AND ITS SOURCES
Abstract
Author of almost one hundred libretti for opera composers of the first half of the 18th century, Felice Romani has perfected a poetry technique that allows a successful combination of music and verse, thus becoming the favourite librettist of the belcanto authors Donizetti and Bellini. His stories are not original, but he masters the ability to adapt his sources in a light yet potent poetry with a strong impact upon the audience. Anna Bolena, put into music by Gaetano Donizetti, presents the tragic story of Henry VIII’s second wife. The sources of the libretto are generally considered to be two almost forgotten tragedies: Anna Bolena by Alessandro Pepoli (Venice, 1788) and Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena by Giovanni Pindemonte (Torino, 1816), actually an adaptation of Marie Joseph de Chenier’s tragedy, Henri VIII (1791). After carrying out a thorough analysis of the three texts, we noticed that Romani’s plot is only partially based on the earlier tragedies while some elements he introduces suggest that he must have had other sources as well. At the same time, he surpasses his predecessors in the construction of the characters, giving them psychological depth. As a result, we can conclude that Romani is only partially tributary to the two sources and succeeds in proposing a personal view on the subject he elaborates for Donizetti.
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References9
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