Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart) is a tragic opera, (tragedia lirica), in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart.
Although Giuseppe Bardari (1817–1861), was the librettist for Maria Stuarda, he was not Donizetti's first choice because, at that point, he was only 17 years old, and was a student with no experience. As such, Donizetti had the opportunity to work closely with him, or to even write entire scenes by himself. A complete Opera Rara recording and pdf with historical information of the play can be found on-line through the Naxos Music Library.
The story is loosely based on the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart) and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Schiller had invented the confrontation of the two Queens, who in fact never met.[1] The libretto adds the love story of Mary Stuart and Dudley, which has no basis in fact. At the time of the events portrayed, Dudley was actually 55, Elizabeth was 53 and Mary was 44.
When forced to simplify part of the music for the original Elisabetta, Donizetti scribbled on the margin "But it's ugly!", and further on refused a change, writing "Do it, and may you live for a hundred years!"[2]
It is one of a number of operas by Donizetti which deal with the Tudor period in English history, including Anna Bolena (named for Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn), Roberto Devereux (named for a putative lover of Queen Elizabeth I of England) and Il castello di Kenilworth. The lead female characters of the operas Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, and Roberto Devereux are often referred to as the "Three Donizetti Queens".
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After its successful dress rehearsal, King of Naples banned performances of the opera "perhaps because his Queen, Maria Christina, was a direct descendant of Mary Stuart".[3] Donizetti responded by revising and removing large segments of the score and by quickly employing a new librettist, Pietro Salatino, in order to create a different work, which he named Buondelmonte referring to a character who appears in Dante's Paradiso "who apparently caused a war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines"[3]. Under that name, the opera was first given on 18 October 1834, but it was not successful and Donizetti withdrew it.
Finally, in its original form as Maria Stuarda, the opera was first given on 30 December 1835 at La Scala, Milan. Maria Malibran (a famous mezzo-soprano who often sang soprano parts) starred in the premiere, but she ignored the censoring revisions (vil bastarda – "vile bastard" became donna vile) and the city banned further performances.
Realizing the impossibility of a run in Italy, a London premiere was planned, but Malibran's death at the age of 28 in 1836 cancelled the project. Except for several productions of the Buondelmonte version and a few of Maria Stuarda in Oporto and Lisbon as well as Naples in 1865,[3] the work was neglected until 1958 when a production in Bergamo, Donizetti's hometown, brought the original work into popularity.
The US premiere was as a concert performance on 16 November 1964 in Carnegie Hall, while the premiere in England followed on 1 March 1966 in London.[4] However, the first US staged performance took place at the San Francisco Opera on 12 November 1971 with Joan Sutherland in the title role.[3]
The first staged performances of the "Three Queens" operas together in the US took place on 7 March 1972 when the trio earned some degree of fame when American soprano Beverly Sills promoted them as a series at New York City Opera.
Since January 2009, 92 performances of 19 productions worldwide have been or will be presented, attesting to the continued popularity of Maria Stuarda. There are several recordings.[5]
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 30 December 1835 (Conductor: Eugenio Cavallini) |
|---|---|---|
| Maria Stuarda, Queen of Scotland | soprano | Maria Malibran |
| Elisabetta, Queen of England | soprano | Giacinta Puzzi Toso |
| Anna Kennedy, Maria's companion | mezzo-soprano | Teresa Moja |
| Roberto, Earl of Leicester | tenor | Domenico Reina |
| Lord Guglielmo Cecil, Chancellor of the Exchequer | baritone | Pietro Novelli |
| Giorgio Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury | bass | Ignazio Marini |
| A herald | tenor |
Originally the roles of Maria and Elisabetta were written for sopranos; many modern-day productions, dating from the late 1950s onwards, cast a mezzo-soprano as either Maria or Elisabetta. The role of Maria was written for Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis, who sang the soprano roles of Donna Anna, in Don Giovanni, and Norma but also the mezzo-soprano role of Rosina, in The Barber of Seville. The King of Naples banned the opera when it was in rehearsal and it became Buondelmonte with one or other of the queens (probably Elisabetta) turned into the tenor title-role and de Begnis singing a role called Bianca. Malibran (who sang Norma but also Leonore and Cenerentola and had a range of g-e'''[6]) then decided that she wanted to sing Maria Stuarda, which she did until it was banned again. It was performed for a time subsequently in "sanitised" form and was eventually revived in 1958, presumably still sanitised. When the original autograph turned up in the 1980s, a critical edition was developed, and it was used for a production in Bergamo in 1989. What emerged at that point was that Donizetti had re-used a couple of numbers in La favorite, and that in post-favorite performances, starting with one in Naples (1865) they had been replaced by different numbers from Donizetti's "lesser operas". [7]
Scene 1: Elisabetta's court at Westminster
Scene 2: Fotheringhay Castle (in many modern performances this scene is called Act 2, with the final act becoming Act 3)[7]
Scene 1: A room in Elisabetta's apartments
Scene 2: Maria's room
Scene 3: The courtyard at Fotheringhay
| Year | Cast (Maria, Elisabeta, Leicester, Talbot) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Beverly Sills, Eileen Farrell, Stuart Burrows, Louis Quilico |
Aldo Ceccato, London Philharmonic Orchestra with John Aldis Choir |
CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 289 465961-2 (Part of "3 Queens" box set) |
| 1974/75 | Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, Luciano Pavarotti, Roger Soyer |
Richard Bonynge, Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra and Chorus |
CD: Decca Cat:00289 425 4102 |
| 1982 | Dame Janet Baker, Rosalind Plowright, David Rendall, Alan Opie |
Charles Mackerras, English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus |
CD: Chandos Cat: CHAN 3017(2) |
| 1989 | Edita Gruberová, Agnes Baltsa, Francisco Araiza, Simone Alaimo |
Giuseppe Patanè, Münchner Rundfunkorchester |
CD: Phillips Cat: 426233-2 |
| 2001 | Carmela Remigio, Sonia Ganassi, Joseph Calleja, Riccardo Zanellato |
Fabrizio M. Carminati, Orchestra Stabile di Bergamo "G.Donizetti" |
DVD: Dynamic Cat:33407 |
| 2008 | Mariella Devia, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Francesco Meli, Simone Alberghini |
Antonino Fogliani, Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus |
DVD: ArtHaus Musik Cat: 101 361 CD: Premiere Opera Ltd, Cat: CDNO 2836-2 |