Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Maria Stuarda – Lyric tragedy in two acts (1834)
Elisabetta, Elisabeth the first of England – Aigul Akhmetshina(mezzo)
Maria Stuarda, Mary, Queen of Scots – Lisette Orpopesa (soprano)
Roberto, Count of Leicester – Ismael Jordi (tenor)
Giorgio Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury – Roberto Tagliavini (bass-baritone)
Lord Guglielmo Cecil, Lord High Treasurer – Andrzej Filończyk (baritone)
Anna Kennedy , Maria’s companion – Elissa Pfaender (mezzo)
Orchestra of the Teatro Real Madrid/José Miguel Pérez-Sierra
rec. live, 20/23 December 2024, Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain
Naxos NBD0192V Blu-ray [142]
The new release of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda on Naxos is the second time that David McVicar’s production has been released on Blu-ray and DVD. A 2014 release on Erato featured the production as it was seen at the Metropolitan Opera, when it starred Joyce DiDonato, Elza Van Den Heever and Matthew Polenzani (review). McVicar’s staging is substantially the same for Madrid as it was for New York, the chief difference being that the Madrid sets, and especially the costumes, are more eye-filling than the earlier ones for the Metropolitan. The staging remains an excellent very well thought-out production which avoids anything flashy and tries to achieve some historical accuracy, within the limits of Bardari’s wildly inaccurate libretto. For example there is a real attempt to reflect the advancing age of all of the principals within the 20-year span of events that occurs in this opera.
Aigul Akhmetshina is a very hot property within the classical music world at the moment, and her star shines very brightly here indeed. Her Elizabeth I is a powerful creation, gorgeously sung with dense, creamy tone. She is very deeply engaged dramatically with the character; one senses that she, along with the other singers, really enjoyed collaborating with David McVicar on this production. In addition she inhabits her outsized costumes with great assurance, and doesn’t allow them to dominate her performance but rather uses them to help her to create a believable character of the insecure Queen.
Ismael Jordi’s Leicester does well when he is singing softly, as he produces several really lovely pianissimi effects on high notes. Yet often his singing is neither beautiful nor well-characterized, and frequently he has difficulty with pitch. However, despite this he is a ruggedly handsome Earl and looks really convincing in his costumes. He too shows intense dramatic engagement with his character; I find him to be possibly the most believable among all of the Leicesters that I have yet seen. On the Erato DVD, Matthew Polenzani’s singing has great poise and beauty and he is also deeply involved dramatically but his acting is surpassed by Jordi’s, so the choice becomes difficult.
Roberto Tagliavini achieves much as a very sympathetic Lord Talbot. In the early scenes he sounds a little rusty of voice but he recovers to offer impressive support to the imprisoned Scottish Queen in the latter half of the opera.
As the dangerously plotting Lord Cecil, Andrzej Filończyk has a hugely powerful voice; really he is almost too powerful for Donizetti. Filończyk’s singing and acting are both rather over the top, but here the composer may be as much to blame as the singer, and certainly McVicar could have taken a stronger hand on this. As it stands, there seems to be an element of cardboard pantomime to much of Cecil’s stage time, which is not helped by the fact that the costuming simply can’t hide Filończyk’s very youthful looking face, despite wearing a white beard and wig.
I have left Lisette Oropesa’s Mary Stuart until last as she has the largest shoes to fill in this opera. To add to that challenge, there are several past singers on video who have claimed this role as their own for her to contend with. From the Erato DVD there is stiff competition from Joyce DiDonato’s touchingly open-hearted performance of Mary. Oropesa’s performance starts off really well in the first aria. Her voice has a nice glow and the slight huskiness that has recently crept into her mid and lower range is only partly in evidence. She brings an enormously dignified presence to Mary, along with deeply committed acting, at several points showing the Queen’s impulsive nature quite nicely. The great confrontation scene with Elizabeth goes well and with a little forcing of her tone in the lower third of her voice, she manages a riveting “Vil bastarda” to crown the second scene.
It is with the second half of the opera that some doubts about Oropesa’s suitability begin to register. For the confession scene and the final execution scene, the tessitura of Mary is concentrated much lower than is really comfortable for her. This necessitates the continued forcing of her tone which gives concern, especially when her high notes begin to emerge in a squeaky fashion. Despite the deeply involved interpretation that she gives her audience, this role really isn’t a good match for Oropesa at this point in her career. What starts off so well vocally has gradually diminishing returns.
The orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Real do themselves proud under Pérez-Sierra’s robust and energetic leadership. The score is presented absolutely complete, even including some repeat verses that often get trimmed in performance. With fine sound and beautifully clarity from the HD television team this all adds up to a very noble effort which achieves much. The Madrid audience clearly shows their approval of what transpired onstage. This Blu-ray is a very high achiever then, but not quite the all-round winner among available versions on home video.
Mike Parr
Production Details
Staging: David McVicar
Set Designer: Hannah Postelthwaite
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Additional Costumes Designed by David McVicar
Lighting Designer: Lizzie Powell
Movement Director: Gareth Mole
Film Director:François Roussillon
Video details
Picture format: 1080i/16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo/DTS-HD MA 5.1
Region code: A / B / C
Sung in Italian; Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean, Japanese, Italian
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