Opera of the Week: A political beheading
OperaTonight’s opera, streamed by Slippedisc courtesy of OperaVision is Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda. The Irish National Opera Orchestra and the Irish National Opera Chorus is conducted by Fergus Sheil and directed by Tom Creed, whose new production promises timely insights into what happens when larger imperial states encroach on their smaller neighbours and when geopolitics is clouded by emotions.
For the central female roles, Irish National Opera has called on two Irish singers with glittering international careers: mezzo-soprano, Tara Erraught as Maria Stuarda and soprano, Anna Devin as Elisabetta. Gemma Ní Bhriain as Anna, Arthur Espiritu as Leicester, and Giorgio Caoduro as Cecil.
The Plot: two Queens. One Catholic and Scottish, one Protestant and English. One in prison at the other’s behest. A man between them balancing loyalty and love. A cry of ‘Vile bastard’ is the impassioned insult that leads one to the scaffold.
The insult was so potent that the first performance of Donizetti’s lyrical tragedy was cancelled at the last minute in Naples through royal intervention. A toned-down revision went awry at La Scala the following year when the great Maria Malibran chose to sing the original words. More than a century would pass before Maria Stuarda would finally make its way into the operatic mainstream.
Available from Friday 8th July 2022 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 NY
While MARIA STUARDA can be dramatically effective, much of the music is not from Donizetti’s top drawer. The last act with Mary and ensemble is the best.
Why would she be costumed thus, well before the Union in 1707 and thus the Union flag?