Mary Stuarda at Seoul Arts Center

Maria Stuarda is the forty-eighth opera by Gaetano Donizetti who, at the age of 35, had already established himself as a leading composer. In his short life (1797-1848), he was forced to compose at a furious pace in order to meet the demands of the operatic world in an era when creating operas was much like film production in the 21st century. Maria Stuarda’s beginnings were turbulent. Subjected to censorship in Naples, and the scandal caused by an incredible fistfight between the two prima donnas at a dress rehearsal, the work was modified and presented under the name Buondelmonte in October 1834. Fourteen months later, Donizetti was finally able to present his work at La Scala under its original title, Maria Stuarda, with the famous Maria Malibran in the title role. The public’s reception of it was mixed, especially as the prima donna was feeling poorly on the evening of the premiere. She insisted on singing anyway in order to collect the substantial fee! But the censorship returned, ultimately leading to a ban on the work after its sixteenth performance.