Donizetti : Maria Stuarda
Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
Maurizio Benini
I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, an unconditional fan of bel canto opera. I like the core repertory well enough, but much of the rest that has been unearthed, revived or given a new lease of life over the last few decades leaves me a bit cold. I've never really been hooked by the likes of Lucrezia Borgia, or Anna Bolena. It is, however, entirely possible that I just need to see the right performance, and in that respect, I got lucky with the circumstances under which I came across Maria Stuarda. First of all, I got to see the Schiller play on which it's based in a fine performance at the Citizens' Theatre, and then, some years later, Scottish Opera staged the Donizetti with an excellent cast headed by the Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny, and that turned out to be well worth the price of admission. So when it turned up on the Met's roster (as a premiere for them, surprisingly enough), with a very promising cast, I was quite happy to take it on-board.
The Schiller play is about power and politics - in the end, it's more about Elizabeth than Mary. The opera dumbs that aspect down considerably to focus on the romance of the title role. Looked at through rose-tinted glasses, and especially at the time of composition, Mary Stuart could be seen as one of the great Catholic martyrs, her tragic destiny making her a worthy dramatic heroine. The reality was somewhat different; she was a square peg in a round hole, never truly adapting to the needs of her political role as Scottish Queen, and with the characteristic impulsiveness of her Stuart lineage hampering her ability to take effective decisions. Even to this day, the allure of the legend and the actual historical facts are still in conflict, which is, no doubt, part of her on-going appeal.
David McVicar productions can be a bit of a hit-or-miss affair for me. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I think his Rigoletto for Covent Garden should be shelved a.s.a.p. His Faust for the same company was interesting, if a little erratic. On the other hand, I enjoyed his Traviata for Scottish Opera a few years back. On the whole, this Maria Stuarda was a hit. The staging was in period costume but simplified sets, handsomely designed by John Macfarlane. McVicar didn't try too hard to relate Italian romanticism to actual history, but did make some effort to draw it closer to the Schiller again, and in particular by choosing to show that many years have elapsed between the first and second acts. This is never actually stipulated in the opera libretto, and I don't recall it being the case in the Schiller either, but there's nothing against it, and it worked quite successfully, especially as Mary did indeed spend 20 years in exile and imprisonment.
If there was one thing that ruffled me a little, it was that McVicar allowed his characters to manhandle the two queens; not roughly, but grasping hands or arms to stop them moving away, for example, which, considering the element of pride very prevalent in both their natures (made abundantly clear in the libretto), would have been flagrant cases of lèse-majesté. I also found that both the queens had a habit of standing with hands resting to one side at the base of the corset. I don't know if that was a conscious or unconscious gesture - Elizabeth's masculine stride was certainly a deliberate choice - but it rather made them look like they were nursing sore ribs, more than anything else. Still, the production was clear, concise, well designed and ultimately moving.
It was also extremely well performed. Of the five principals, Matthew Rose's Talbot was vocally the weakest, because his singing was a little toneless at times, but the character still came across as strongly sympathetic. Joshua Hopkins turned out a solid Cecil, steadfast in the face of Elizabeth's vacillation. Matthew Polenzani, in excellent form, lent his clear and sweet-timbred tenor to the role of Leicester; I didn't envy him, because in removing much of the politics, Donizetti's librettist turned Leicester into one of the stupidest tenor parts in the repertory, and that's saying something. Come on, fellas, you really ought to know it's never a good idea to sing the praises of the woman you fancy to the face of the other woman who fancies you!
However, Maria Stuarda stands or falls on the strength of its two queens, and here we were indeed royally served tonight. South African soprano Elza van den Heever was an assured, assertive Elizabeth, vocally completely secure, a little cool, perhaps, but again, the transformation from play to opera over-simplifies her character, removing much of the subtlety, and she handled what was left to her very well. As for Joyce DiDonato, she was quite simply superb, the voice warm and limpid, the control constant and admirable, and her dramatic focus remarkable. In the second act, as mentioned, she's required to show that at least ten years have passed, and that Mary's health has deteriorated to a considerable degree. She also has a great deal of emotionally demanding music to sing, and I was very impressed with how she was able to maintain the slight tremor in one hand almost consistently, to indicate Mary's reduced physical state, without anything detracting from the elegance and purity of her vocal line.
Cap it all off with chorus and orchestra at their considerable best under the sure guidance of Maurizio Benini, and this was a highly satisfying performance in every respect. If this show gets released on DVD, which it really should, it will certainly find a place in my collection forthwith.
[Next : 25th January]
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