The title of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena tells all: one of the most fascinating, contradictory, and unintentionally influential figures in British history, Anne Boleyn, serves as the inspiration for a nineteenth-century opera that provides acres and acres of territory for vocal showmanship, at the same time weaving a tale of betrayal, lust, power, and love that ranks among the greatest in the operatic repertoire. Although this may sound like the blurb for a historical romance novel, that’s what opera, ultimately, is all about.