Maria Stuarda at Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Moniuszko Auditorium

Maria Stuarda is the next after Anna Bolena and not the last piece proving Donizetti’s fascination with Tudor England. The opera’s history was shaped by a mix of unfavourable circumstances that made it disappear for many decades – virtually until the mid-20th century! At the time of its world premiere in 1835 problems were caused by inquisitive censors, but also leading lady Maria Malibran, 19th-century Europe’s greatest singer, who ignored their demands and, even worse, was almost dying at the time and a shadow of her former selfat the premiere... In this historical opera Donizetti uses language totally foreign to 16th-century England and Scotland, practically without any stylization, entrenching himself in the anachronistic poetics of Italian bel canto. The composer, who wrote around 70 stage works in the 51 years of his life (not counting over 500 other pieces), despite his almost mass production sometimes permitted himself an experiment. It was the same this time, when he wrote the conversation between the two queens – Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots, a dialogue that never actually took place – in the form of a recitativo accompagnato in which the emotions swell up gradually. The work’s ending is also magnificent, when Mary awaiting her execution bids the world farewell in a powerful and extensive final aria.