Thursday, February 24, 2011

Royal Weddings & Anna Bolena

By no means do I follow The Royal Family. However, I have always admired Princess Diana for her courage to stand her ground towards The Queen in regards to how she would raise William and Harry. She made sure her boys would be raised understanding that just because you are born into royalty not everyone has the same privileges and impressed upon them the importance of charity work.
She was the first Princess of Wales to insist upon travelling with her boys on royal visits. Doing this was unheard of, against protocol, and would definitely upset The Queen. Diana did it anyway!

So, the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has me 'unusually' enraptured!
I love the fact that he fell in love with and is marrying a 'commoner' as did his father!

As some of my readers may already know, I am an avid fan of Author and Historian Alison Weir.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she and a group of women called, 'The History Girls' have a book coming out in the U.K. on 31st March.


THE RING AND THE CROWN: A HISTORY OF ROYAL WEDDINGS, 1066-2011
The History Girls - Alison Weir, Tracy Borman, Sarah Gristwood and Kate Williams - have been commissioned by Hutchinson to write an illustrated book on the history of royal weddings, due for publication in the U.K. on 31st March. The book, The Ring and the Crown, will be officially launched on 18th April at a special event at Hampton Court Palace.
It tells the stories of four romantic royal couples: Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, Owen Tudor and Katherine of Valois, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, The Prince Consort.

Something else that has come to my attention, thanks to a post on Everything Tudor, is an upcoming opera about Anne Boleyn! It is entitled, 'Anna Bolena' Composer Gaetano Donizetti, Librettist Felice Romani, Sung in Italian with Met titles in English, German, and Spanish.
'Anna Bolena' is one of the operas to be featured during the 2011-12 Season of The Metropolitan Opera in New York City! In the role of Anna Bolena is Russian born, Soprano, Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca as her rival, Jane Seymour, and Ildar Abdrazakov as Henry VIII. Marco Armiliato conducts. The only opera description I could find albeit brief says, 'the ill-fated queen driven insane by her unfaithful king. She sings one of opera’s greatest mad scenes in this production'.

I will be attending this opera my first one and I couldn't be more excited! I'm taking it as a sign that it happens to be about Anne Boleyn! So, expect a full report later this year!

Here are a few photos: One is The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City,

The other photos are of Anna Netrebko dressed in costume as Anne Boleyn! You should recognize the black dress as one she wore in the portrait that hangs in Hever Castle!






Thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to leave any comments or questions.

5 comments:

Robert Stephen Parry said...

Netrebko is such a wonderful singer and actress - and really looks the part in those costumes. Tremendous!

Kimberly Eve said...

Yes,this will be my first time seeing her. It should be a wonderful opera!

Anonymous said...

You'll be in for a wonderful experience I'm sure. Looking forward to your post performance comments. Enjoy! Gloria

Kimberly Eve said...

Thanks Gloria. I'd have more fun if you went with me! Yes, I'll definitely post everything I remember.

WoofWoof said...

Interesting comments about Diana/William/Harry. Diana dominated the news media in the UK from the fairytale engagement and wedding right through when it all went wrong and up to her untimely death (she was the same age as myself). I still remember the incredible grief at her passing - I've never seen anything like it. As well as standing up to them over the princes' upbringing, I am glad she didn't just grin and bear it and put up with Charles's infidelities like they wanted her to. Finally, Kate has never had the same level of attention which I think is a good thing. I'm glad that she and William seem to have a happy marriage.

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