(Maria Stuarda) by Gaetano Donizetti Sung in Italian with projected English translations
Jan. 5, 7(m), 10 & 13, 2007
A new production and a Dallas Opera premiere!
The history of England hangs in the balance in this clash of wills between
the fiery Mary Queen of Scots and her arch-rival, Elizabeth I. Based
on Schiller’s romanticized drama, the fireworks – vocal and otherwise – fly
from start to finish in this fictional account of a face-to-face confrontation
between two unforgettable women, portrayed by Majella Cullagh and Adina Nitescu as the unforgiving
Elizabeth. A drama sure to be talked about and not to be missed!Click here to learn more.
Recommended Listening: Donizetti: MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (MARIA
STUARDA) – Beverly Sills, Eileen Farrell; Aldo Ceccato on DG # 465967
(Recorded in 1971). We also recommend putting yourself in a high-stepping
Highland mood with “MusicScotland top 99,” a 2004 compilation
CD of the best contemporary musicianship in the Highlands and Islands, including
the dazzling fiddle playing of Charlie MacKerron and Duncan Chisolm and The
Black Rose Ceilidh Band, recently selected as Scottish Dance Band of the Year. Available
at musicscotland.com.
Recommended Reading: Music Director Graeme Jenkins highly
recommends John Guy’s “Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart.” General
Director Karen Stone is also a fan of Antonia Fraser’s books on the doomed
queen: “Mary Queen of Scots,” a real page turner of a biography,
and “Mary Queen of Scots and the Historians” published by the Royal
Stuart Society.
Conversation Starter: Besides his intense historical dramas,
the prolific Donizetti was equally famous for delightfully sly comedies, chiefly Don
Pasquale, La Fille du Régiment, and The Elixir of
Love, composed in just two weeks in 1832 and performed non-stop ever since!
