We’re dusting off some English history on this week’s Sunday Opera (4/20 3:00 p.m.) through a work by Camille Saint-Saens, a live 1991 recording of his rarely performed “Henry VIII.” The libretto by Armand Silvestre and Leonce Detroyat looks at a small section of the infamous life of a man driven by ego, a thirst for power, and the overpowering need to have a male heir.
The opera begins with Henry (Philippe Rouillon) already scheming to rid himself of his wife, Catherine of Aragon (Michele Command). She was the widow of his older brother, and he dutifully married her, but she has not supplied him with an heir. He decides the marriage is cursed, and looks to the Pope to have it annulled, but as Catherine (and Spain) are staunch Catholics, the Pope declines, and Henry turns his sights on the young Anne Boleyn (Lucile Vignon), and declares himself “The Defender of the Faith,” creating the Anglican Church, and severing ties with Rome. All does not bode well, however, and Henry’s changeability hints to Boleyn that her time as queen will prove to be short.
The cast also includes Philippe Bohee as the “Duke” of Norfolk, Gerard Serkoyan as Cardinal Campeggio, Alain Gabriel as Gomez (a Spanish suitor of Anne’s), Alexandre Laiter as the Count of Surrey, and Jean-Marc Loisel as Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Alain Guingal conducts the Chorus of the Theatre des Arts Rouen and the Orchestre Lyrique Francais.
Directly after the opera, we’ll hear three more works by Saint-Saens including the Suite Algerienne which includes his often excerpted March militaire Francaise as its fourth movement, the symphonic poem Phaeton, and a Shakespearean song, “La Mort d’Ophelie” featuring soprano Sarah Walker.
