About this edition
Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena is the opera that transformed him from a prolific journeyman composer into one of the leading dramatists of the Italian stage. Premiered at Milan's Teatro Carcano in 1830, it introduced the bel canto tragic heroine in her fullest form — a role that would later become inseparable from the artistry of Maria Callas, whose 1957 La Scala revival restored the opera to the standard repertoire after more than a century of neglect. The final scene, "Al dolce guidami castel natio," remains one of the great mad scenes in all of opera, a summit of vocal writing that demands both technical command and profound expressive depth.
This edition reproduces the piano-vocal score published in Milan by G. Ricordi (plate number 45415, issued circa 1877), arranged by Luigi Truzzi (1799–1864), a respected Milanese musician and arranger who prepared numerous Ricordi reductions during the mid-nineteenth century. Ricordi's house editions of this era were the standard performing and study materials used throughout Italian theaters, and they remain prized today for their engraving clarity and fidelity to the composer's own performing tradition, making them an essential reference for anyone studying how this repertoire was actually staged and rehearsed in the decades following its premiere.
- Format: Piano-vocal score (piano reduction by Luigi Truzzi)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Source: Reproduced from a historical public domain edition
- Publisher: Purple 4R Publishing
Because this historical Ricordi score has long since entered the public domain, we're glad to make it available again in a clean, sturdy printed edition — bringing a landmark bel canto score back within easy reach of singers, coaches, students, and Donizetti admirers everywhere.
