Tudor Queens - Diana Damrau

Caught between longing and powerlessness: Diana Damrau sings Donizetti's "Tudor Queens On Tudor Queens, soprano Diana Damrau embodies three different queens of the Tudor period in Great Britain: Anne Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII's six wives; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. Each of them is the main character in an opera by Gaetano Donizetti: Anna Bolena (1830), Maria Stuarda (1835) and Roberto Devereux (1837). Tudor Queens now juxtaposes the climactic final scenes of these three works, in each of which the queen faces similar extremes: Anne has been condemned to death by her husband; Mary has been condemned to death by her cousin Elizabeth; and Elizabeth-the daughter of Anne-has condemned to death the man she loves, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. The three extended scenes on this album give the soprano ample opportunity to display her spectacular technique and interpretive understanding, and they impressively demonstrate the composer's ability to build tension and drama of cumulative power.