MARIA STUARDA

"It was hard to imagine a better New Year's Eve gift to opera lovers than this musically splendid and intensely dramatic performance."

The New York Times

Maria Stuarda is one of a number of operas by Donizetti which deal with the Tudor period in English history, including Anna Bolena (named for Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII) and Roberto Devereux (named for a putative lover of Queen Elizabeth I of England). After last season’s production of Anna Bolena, this production marks the second installment of Donizetti’s so-called “three Tudor queens” trilogy staged by David McVicar. Joyce DiDonato stars as Mary, Queen of Scots in the first-ever Met production of this intensely dramatic historical opera. South African soprano Elza van den Heever makes her Met debut as Mary’s rival, the formidable Queen Elizabeth I, and Matthew Polenzani sings Leicester, the nobleman caught between the two dueling monarchs. Maurizio Benini conducts a cast that also includes Matthew Rose as Talbot, Mary’s jailer, and Joshua Hopkins as Elizabeth’s advisor Cecil.