Maria Stuarda

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Work data
Title: Maria Stuart
Original title: Maria Stuarda
Title page of the libretto, Milan 1835

Title page of the libretto, Milan 1835

Shape: Tragedia lirica in three acts (four parts)
Original language: Italian
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto : Giuseppe Bardari
Literary source: Maria Stuart by Friedrich Schiller
Premiere: 1) October 18, 1834 as Buondelmonte
2) December 30, 1835 as Maria Stuarda
Place of premiere: 1) Teatro San Carlo Naples
2) Teatro alla Scala Milan
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: England 1587
people

Maria Stuarda (in the German version Maria Stuart ) is an opera (original name: "Tragedia lirica") in three acts (four parts) by Gaetano Donizetti . Giuseppe Bardari wrote the libretto . The drama Maria Stuart by Friedrich Schiller served as a literary model . After various difficulties caused by the censorship, the plot of the opera had to be performed at short notice with a different plot and under the title Buondelmonte . This version had its world premiere on October 18, 1834 in the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. In a slightly revised version, the opera was played for the first time under the original title on December 30, 1835 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

action

The opera takes place in the Palace of Westminster and in the palace and the adjoining park in Fotheringhay 1587 during the last days of Maria Stuart's life .

first act

Part one: Gallery in the Palace of Westminster

A French diplomat brings the English monarch a letter from his king asking for her hand. At the same time he asks Elisabetta to give Maria Stuarda her freedom again. (The Queen of Scotland was expelled from her people 18 years ago for having her husband murdered and sought protection from her English cousin. However, Elisabetta herself feared for her throne and had Mary captured.) The company gathered at the royal court also supported the wish of the French king. Only Cecil, the Baron de Burleigh, demands the death of Mary. He was once in love with the beautiful Queen of Scotland himself. But when she rejected him, his love turned into hate.

The Earl of Shrewsbury, Giorgio Talbot, delivered a letter to Earl Leicester from the imprisoned Queen asking him to intercede with Elisabetta. Leicester enjoys the high favor of its ruler. But because his heart is on fire for the beautiful Maria, he is more than happy to put in a good word for the Scottish woman at Elisabetta. After much persuasion, Elisabetta agrees to meet Maria.

Second act

Second part: Park of the Fotheringhay Castle

Maria is happy to finally be able to enjoy a sunny day in the fresh air after a long period of imprisonment. When horns sound in the distance, her heart beats faster. She is aware that Elisabetta is on the way to Fotheringhay with her hunting party. Suddenly Count Leicester stands before her. He hurried ahead of the hunting party in order to be able to talk to them in private. He implores Mary, whom he treasures so much, to humbly prostrate herself to Elisabetta. This is the only way out to save her life. Concerned for Leicester's personal fate, she finally agrees to do so.

When the two queens meet, everything turns out differently than Maria had hoped for. The proud English woman has only scorn and ridicule for her relatives. She reminds her of her past amours and of her husband, whom she betrayed and then had killed. Maria cannot stand the shame for long and turns the tables by throwing contempt for her origins in Elisabetta's face: England's throne is deeply desecrated by the bastard she is.

Guards lead Maria away.

Third act

Third part: Gallery in the Palace of Westminster

Cecil urges Elisabetta to finally sign Maria's death warrant. At first she hesitates; but when she sees Leicester and realizes what underhand game he has been playing with her, she puts her name under the document.

Cecil triumphs and calls on his adversary Leicester to voluntarily surrender. He also admits that he himself saw to it that Maria's letter was leaked to him. He had arranged all of this so skilfully that he could be convicted of conspiracy against Elisabetta.

Fourth part: Room in Maria Stuarda's prison

Maria is aware that she will soon be brought to the executioner. Talbot and Cecil deliver the verdict to her. She looks back on her life. She thinks above all of her husband, whose death she is responsible for. She is so worn out that she becomes delusional. Talbot, who wears a priestly robe under his clothes, can bring it back to reality. She makes her last confession with him.

Hall next to the execution site

As an act of last grace, Elisabetta Maria allows her servant Anna to accompany her to the scaffold. Maria forgives Elisabetta and calmly enters the place of execution.

layout

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

music

Maria Stuarda is a typical bel canto opera. The following musical highlights are highlighted:

  • Cavatine of Elisabetta in the first act: Ah! quando all'ara sorgemi - Ah dal ciel discenda un raggio
  • Leicester's Cavatine and his subsequent duet with Talbot in the first act: Ah! rimiro il bel sembiante
  • The “consolation” or “insulting scene” of Maria and Elizabeth in the second act: Morta al mondo, morta al trono
  • Aria of Maria in the second scene of the third act: Ah! se un giorno
  • Maria's duet with her nurse and choir in the third act: Anna! Qui più sommessi… Deh! Tu di un'umile preghiera il suono Anna!

Emergence

The Teatro San Carlo in Naples commissioned Donizetti in 1834 to set Giuseppe Bardari's libretto Maria Stuarda to music. The premiere should be in August of that year. The two main female roles were originally written for Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis (as Maria Stuarda) and Anna del Sere (as Elisabeth I). Already during the rehearsals, however, there was a scandal because of the violent jealousy and fights between the two prima donna. Del Sere is said to have been so battered that she had to recover from her bruises for two weeks. Because of "internal and staffing difficulties" the dress rehearsal was postponed more and more. When it finally took place at the end of September, the Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Christina of Naples - a direct descendant of the historical Maria Stuart - appeared in the theater and wanted to see the opera before the premiere. During the last act was staged, finally passed the undoing: The monarch was shocked by Mary Stuart confessions in the confession scene so that they will impotence fell. The result was that the censorship banned the performance of the work.

Donizetti thought his music was too valuable to simply let it disappear into oblivion. In collaboration with a Neapolitan librettist, he wrote a new text that he added to his music. On October 18, 1834, the new opera under the title Buondelmonte had a not particularly successful premiere at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with Francesco Pedrazzi (Buondelmonte), Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis (Bianca), Federico Crespi (Lamberto), Anna Salvetti (Eleonora) , Anna del Sere (Irene), Carlo Porto Ottolini (Tedaldo), Teresa Zappucci (Giovanna), Natale Costantini (Mosca), Achille Balestracci (Oderigo) and Sparalik (Stiatta). The conductor was Nicola Festa , and the sets were by Pasquale Canna . Only Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis received very positive reviews.

When La Scala in Milan was looking for a suitable opera for the premiere at the turn of the year 1835/1836, the then very famous singer Maria Malibran Donizetti's “forbidden” opera Maria Stuarda suggested. After a heated discussion, the work was accepted. Donizetti received the blessing to bring out his lyrical tragedy in the original. On December 30th the time had come. But again, fate hadn't been kind to the opera. Both singers who were supposed to embody Maria and Elisabetta were completely indisposed. The best thing would have been to postpone the premiere until next year. However, the singers did not want to forego their fees so shortly before the turn of the year and insisted that the work go on.

The premiere took place on December 30, 1835 - with Maria Malibran in the title role as well as Giacinta Puzzi Toso (Elisabetta), Teresa Moja (Anna), Domenico Reina (Roberto Leicester), Ignazio Marini (Giorgio Talbot) and Pietro Novelli (Lord Guglielmo Cecil). The first violinist Eugenio Cavallini was the musical director. The sets were by Baldassarre Cavallotti and Domenico Menozzi. The end was predictable: the success was again only very moderate. Then Donizetti became so angry that he never wanted to have anything to do with La Scala in Milan.

It was only 123 years later that Maria Stuarda was rediscovered in the original version. After such a long break, the performance took place in 1958 in Donizetti's birthplace, Bergamo, and this time the success it deserved was not denied.

In 1986 an autograph was found in Stockholm as the only authentic record. This is the basis of the critical edition by Anders Wiklund published by Casa Ricordi in 1991 . This version is characterized by only two acts instead of the previous three, whereby the previous first two acts have been combined into the first act and thus the third act became the second act. Today's productions mainly relate to this version.

Web links

Commons : Maria Stuarda  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Norbert Miller : Maria Stuarda. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , p. 759.
  2. ↑ Giorgio Migliavacca: "Maria Stuarda: From the difficult beginnings to the masterpiece of the renaissance of Belcanto", booklet text for the CD: Maria Stuarda , with Edita Gruberova a. a., Nightingale Classics, Zurich 2000, pp. 16–23, here: p. 19.
  3. ↑ Maria Christina was the granddaughter of Franz I Stephan , who in turn was a grandson of Liselotte von der Pfalz . Her paternal grandmother was Elisabeth Stuart , a granddaughter of Maria Stuart.
  4. ↑ 18. 19 1834: “Buondelmonte”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on August 8, 2019.
  5. ^ Giorgio Migliavacca: Maria Stuarda: From the difficult beginnings to the masterpiece of the renaissance of Belcanto. Booklet text for the CD: Maria Stuarda with Edita Gruberova u. a. Nightingale Classics, Zurich 2000, pp. 16–23, here: p. 21.
  6. ↑ December 30, 1835: "Maria Stuarda". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on August 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Maria Stuart - Gaetano Donizetti . In: Mittelächsisches Theater (Ed.): Program booklet, season 2018/19 . S. 18 .