It’s kind of like ascending a mountain … backward.
Five years ago, Minnesota Opera announced one of the most ambitious undertakings in its nearly five-decade history: The company would produce Gaetano Donizetti’s “Tudor Trilogy,” a trio of 19th-century operas that chronicle events in the life of England’s 16th-century queen, Elizabeth. But it would present them in reverse chronological order over the course of four seasons.
This week, Minnesota Opera completes the task with its strongest staging of the three. Resurrecting design ideas from the previous two productions — “Roberto Devereux” and “Mary Stuart” — but placing extra emphasis upon cultivating character development, the company has created an excellent “Anna Bolena.”
Boasting six leads with acting skills to rival the strength of their voices, the opening performance Saturday, Nov. 10, at St. Paul’s Ordway Center proved the grandest of finales for the project — even if takes our story back to its beginnings.
While the other operas concentrate on conflicts during Elizabeth’s reign, “Anna Bolena” is her mother’s story. Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII, a king whose appetite for women — and for siring a male heir — took him to the altar six times. In Donizetti’s version, the virtue and villainy are pushed to extremes, Anne a saintly fount of forgiveness, Henry the most despicable of cads, and Jane Seymour, his next wife, a remorseful victim of seduction.
While the real Anne was no angel, Keri Alkema made the monarch a bastion of strength, fire and compassion, her voice and stage presence dominating each scene she inhabited. From her tempestuous encounters with her cruel husband to the gently delivered recollections as she awaited execution, Alkema presented a tour de force of power and subtlety, the mezzo-turned-soprano showing impeccable command throughout her ample range.
What with Anne having two ardent admirers and a conflicted relationship with her lady-in-waiting, Henry isn’t necessarily as big a role in this opera as you might expect. But Kyle Ketelson made him a villain to remember, a bubbling cauldron of anger, lust and narcissism, habitually hypocritical and dishonest. His booming bass-baritone conveyed both a bully’s intimidation skills and a fragile insecurity.
As the lady-in-waiting living a double life inside the castle walls, Lauren McNeese’s Jane lent a sweet, rich voice and a palpable sense of internal conflict to the character. David Portillo has a voice ideal for Anne’s lifelong love interest, Lord Percy, an old-school Italianate tenor propelled by passion. And Victoria Vargas did impressive things with the smitten Smeton, the court minstrel who fawns over Anne.
Conductor Michael Christie brought all these talents into fine balance, especially on the interlacing trios, quartets and ensemble pieces that brought so many scenes to a rousing conclusion. And the orchestra sounded exceptional in its stormy yet precise handling of Donizetti’s classical-era-flavored score.
Neil Patel’s imaginatively convertible set and Jessica Jahn’s period-perfect costumes were as strong as they’ve been throughout the trilogy, but this is the production in which director Kevin Newbury seems to have convinced his cast to make their characters exceptionally real. That’s the element that makes this visit to the English court of five centuries ago feel compellingly current.
What: Minnesota Opera’s production of “Anna Bolena” by Gaetano Donizetti
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, Thursday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18
Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
Tickets: $18-$200, available at 651-333-6669 or mnopera.org.
Capsule: The “Tudor Trilogy” reaches a climactic conclusion at its beginning.
