03 May 2009
DONIZETTI: Maria Stuarda — Paris 1972
Maria Stuarda: Tragedia lirica in two or three acts.
Recently in Repertoire
Rimsky-Korsakov – Mozart and Salieri
Mozart and Salieri, an opera in one act consisting of two scenes.
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer. Libretto derived from Alexander Puskhin's play of the same name.
First performance: 7 December 1898 in Moscow.
Strauss – Ariadne auf Naxos
Ariadne auf Naxos, Oper with a prologue and one act. Music composed by Richard Strauss. Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
Spontini – La Vestale
La Vestale, a tragédie lyrique in three acts.
Mussorgsky – Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov, an opera in four acts with prologue
Modest Mussorgsky, composer. Libretto by the composer, based on Alexander Pushkin's drama Boris Godunov and Nikolai Karamazin's History of the Russian Empire
First performance: 8 February 1874 at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
Verdi – Il Trovatore (La Scala 1930)
Il Trovatore, dramma in four parts.
Strauss – Ariadne auf Naxos (Salzburg 1954)
Only a few months following the premiere of Der Rosenkavalier, Hugo von Hofmannsthal proposed a new opera to Richard Strauss based on Molière’s comedy-ballet, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (in German, Der Bürger als Edelmann).
MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Berlin 1949)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Singspiel in 3 Acts.
Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on an earlier libretto by
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner.
MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Aix-En-Provence 1954)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Singspiel in 3 Acts.
Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on an earlier libretto by
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner.
STRAUSS: Arabella – Dresden 2005
Arabella: Lyrische Komödie in three acts
MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Vienna 1956)
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Singspiel in 3 Acts.
Music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger, based on an earlier libretto by
Christoph Friedrich Bretzner.
PONCHIELLI: La Gioconda
La Gioconda, dramma lirico in four acts.
Music composed by Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886). Libretto by Arrigo Boito (under the pseudonym Tobia Gorrio), based upon Victor Hugo's Angelo, Tyrant of Padua (1835).
VERDI: Don Carlo
Don Carlo, an opera in four acts. Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). Libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille Du Locle after Friedrich von Schiller’s dramatic poem Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien. Revised version in four acts (French text revised by Du Locle, Italian translation by Achille de Lauzières and Angelo Zanardini).
VERDI: Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera, a melodramma in three acts.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Antonio Somma, based upon the work of Eugène Scribe Gustave III ou Le bal masqué (1833)
Giovanni Pacini: Medea
Medea: Melodramma tragico in three acts.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Die Tote Stadt
Die Tote Stadt, an opera in three acts.
Music composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). Libretto by Paul Schott (Julius and E. W. Korngold) after the novel Bruges la morte by Georges Rodenbach.
Stendhal on the Rossini Revolution
Some Details concerning the Revolution inaugurated by Rossini
PUCCINI: Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut, dramma lirico in quattro atti
STRAUSS : Elektra
Elektra: Tragedy in one act.
Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2020 Ring Cycle
Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced both schedules and cast-lists for is Spring 2020 performances of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Given the series of individual productions already staged by the company since Fall 2016, that pave the way for the complete cycle, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s complete production should affirm the artistic might of the great composer.
Carlo Diacono: L’Alpino
“Diacono himself does not know what musical talent he possesses” – Mascagni
OPERA TODAY ARCHIVES »
Repertoire
Streaming Audio
Music composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Libretto by Giuseppe Bardari after Andrea Maffei’s translation (1830) of Friedrich von Schiller’s Maria Stuart.
First Performance: 30 December 1835, Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
| Principal Roles: | |
| Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Maria Stuarda, Regina di Scozia | Soprano |
| Anna Kennedy, Nutrice di Maria | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Roberto, Conte di Leicester | Tenor |
| Lord Guglielmo Cecil, Gran Tesitore | Baritone |
| Giorgio Talbot, Conte di Shrewsbury | Bass |
Synopsis:
Act I
The Palace of Westminster
A tourney has been given in honor of the French ambassador, who is negotiating with Elisabetta concerning a marriage proposal from the King of France, which she is contemplating through a sense of duty to her subjects, while secretly pining for Leicester, whose absence from court she notices. Talbot, who is in charge of the royal prisoner, tries to intercede with Elisabetta on behalf of Maria, imprisoned in Fotheringay Castle since fleeing from Scotland. But the Queen is torn between sympathy for Maria and fear that she is plotting against her; Cecil warns against the perils of pity.
Leicester arrives and she gives him a ring to take to the French Ambassador as a token of her acceptance of the offer of marriage, but is incensed when Leicester seems unmoved by the commission. Privately Talbot gives Leicester a portrait of Maria and a letter from her and Leicester resolves to free the woman he loves by any means. He gives Elisabetta the letter, which is a plea for a meeting with her, and he urges her to consent, pointing out that she can use a hunting party in the vicinity of Fotheringay as a pretext. His enthusiasm for her rival's cause reminds Elisabetta of Maria's attempts on the English throne and when Leicester waxes unwisely lyrical about Maria's charms, the Queen exults that she has been brought low.
Act II
The grounds of Fotheringay Castle
Accompanied by Anna, Maria walks in the park, rejoicing in her limited freedom, but remembering sadly the happy days of her youth in France. The sound of the approaching royal hunt terrifies her, and she regrets having asked Elisabetta for a meeting, but, supported by Leicester and his assurances that Elisabetta had been moved by the letter, she agrees to stay and face her.
Elisabetta also views the occasion with mixed feelings, on the one hand rejecting Cecil's urgings that she execute Maria and on the other enraged by the fervor with which Leicester argues her rival's case. As the queens confront one another, each is already convinced that the other is haughty, but Maria makes an effort and humbles herself to ask for clemency. Elisabetta is obdurate, and her references to Maria's murdered husband and aspersions on her honor provoke Maria, despite Leicester's attempts to calm her, into taunting Elisabetta with being a bastard and a "vile, lascivious harlot." Furious, Elisabetta advises her to expect her death sentence, but Maria exults in her temporary triumph.
Act III
Scene 1. The Palace of Westminster
Although mortally affronted, Elisabetta hesitates to sign the death warrant, despite the urgings of Cecil that her safety and that of the realm depend on Maria's death. Only the arrival of Leicester provokes her into signing. His prayers for mercy only provoke her into ordering him to witness the execution.
Scene 2. Maria's apartment in Fotheringay
Maria is still exultant over her humiliation of Elisabetta, though fearing that Leicester may be in danger from her wrath. Cecil brings the death warrant. She refuses his offer of a priest, but admits to Talbot that she is oppressed by the recollection of her sins. He reveals that he has taken holy orders so as to hear her confession.
She confesses to guilt over the murder of her husband, Darnley, and also seems to admit complicity in the Babington plot (not only to free her but elevate her to the English throne by murdering the Queen). Talbot gives her absolution.
Scene 3. A room next to the execution chamber
Maria's friends lament her fate, and she, facing death calmly, tries to comfort them and give them strength. As the cannon sounds the signal for her execution, Cecil asks for her last requests. She forgives Elisabetta and prays for a blessing on her and the kingdom. She tries to calm the grief-stricken Leicester and hopes that her innocent blood will placate the wrath of Heaven. She goes resolutely to her death as her friends grieve over her fate.
[Synopsis Source: Opera~Opera]