A Queenly Night At The SD Opera: Maria Stuarda (16 Feb 2008)
Feb 17 '08 (Updated May 04 '08)
The Bottom Line Donizetti's Maria Stuarda isn't a show to miss if you are in San Diego this month!
Gaetano Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (Mary, Queen of Scots) at the San Diego Opera (16 February 2008)
Gaetano Donizetti was a very prolific Italian opera composer from the Romantic Period who was quite interested in British history and wrote many operas based on Britain’s historical figures... Three of them constitute what we opera-nerds call the Donizetti ‘Three Queens’ operas; Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn), Maria Stuarda (Mary, Queen of Scots), and Roberto Devereux (whose leading lady is Elizabeth I).
Of these, Maria Stuarda seems disproportionately neglected. It is an understandable trend considering how difficult the three lead roles are to perform... And so when the PR Director of the San Diego Opera offered me a free ticket to the opera's opening night on Saturday in return for an objective review of the performance (whatever 'objective' means... we opera fans are so set in our likes and dislikes that I doubt that we would recognize objectivity if it dances on our lap naked!), I couldn't jump at it fast enough... never mind my reservations about the unfriendly acoustic of the orchestra section at San Diego Civic Theater or how the singers tend to be more nervous during the first performance than in later ones.
And so, armed with my most presentable (if stylistically repulsive) tam, I took off for the Civic Theater on Saturday evening and got there just in time for the 6PM Pre-opera lecture given by Dr. Ron Shaheen of the UCSD Music Department. Really, I think all opera goers should make the effort to attend the very informative and engagingly presented half and hour talk even if you are already familiar with the work. Dr. Shaheen really did a good job of preparing the audience to look for drama in the right places in the opera, and offered some good tips on what to listen for. I had read up on the opera and listened to many youtube clips of other performances beforehand, and I still learned a few more things from the lecture. Besides, no matter what your assigned seat is during the show, you get to sit in the very comfortable orchestra level seat during the lecture where you can actually cross your legs without knocking your neighbor unconscious in the process!
Anyhow, based on Schiller’s play, Maria Stuart, the opera is about the events leading up to the execution of Mary Stuart of Scotland for treason against Queen Elizabeth I of England. In real history: Mary Stuart, Queen of Catholic Scotland and France was force to abdicate and flee to seek asylum in Protestant England (ruled by her cousin Elizabeth Tudor) after her husband, Henry Darnley, was murdered. Mary was kept in various prisons from 1568 to 1587, when she was convicted of treason for her involvement on the Babington Plot against Elizabeth and executed.
In this opera Queen Elisabetta (Elizabeth I) is neither very keen on marrying the all too Catholic Prince of France nor on executing her blood cousin, Maria (Mary Stuart) without a clear cut evidence of her treason, despite of Guglielmo Cecil (William Cecil, Lord Treasurer)'s urging... and to the delight of Giorgio Talbot (George Talbot, Earl of Shrewbury), who begs her to pardon the Scottish queen. Elisabetta's suspicion of Roberto Dudley (Earl of Leicester)'s romantic feelings for Mary instead of for her is reinforced when he fails to protest her conditional consent to marry the French Prince. When Roberto shows her the letter from Maria that was delivered to him by Talbot and pleads with his queen to meet and reconcile with her cousin, Elisabetta plays along. The meeting during an orchestrated 'hunting party' at Fotheringhay ends in a very unroyal-like street language name-calling spat that earns Maria her death sentence. Roberto's politically incorrect sympathy is rewarded by an assignment to witness the execution. Maria is granted a last wish of being escorted to the scaffold by her confidante, Anna, after having shown her final defiant by confessing to Talbot instead of to a Protestant minister (admitting guilt over her husband's death but denying involvement in the Babington Plot).
This opera is a musical tour de force for the title role, and a dramatic one for Elisabetta. It is naturally not historically accurate on many points (for one, the grand scene of the opera is the confrontation between Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, while in fact there is no evidence indicating such a meeting between these two monarchs). There were three different versions of the opera even in Donizetti's life time due to the political fusses about the opera's presentation of prominent historical figures. It didn't help that the Queen Maria Christina of Naples, where the opera was to first premiere, was a direct descendant of Mary Stuart, and didn't care for a work that ascribes such unrefined line as "Figlia impura di Bolena, parli tu di disonore? Meretrice - indegna, oscena, in te cada il mio rossore. Profonato è soglio ingelese. Vil bastarda, da tuo pie (Impure daughter of Boleyn, you dare to speak of dishonor? Unworthy obscene prostitute! I blush for you. The English throne, vile bastard, you profane!)" to her ancestor.
Cast:
Maria Stuarda (imprisoned Queen of Scotland & France) ::: Ermonela Jaho (soprano, substituting for Angela Gilbert)
Elisabetta Tudor (Queen of England) ::: Kate Aldrich (mezzo-soprano)
Anna Kennedy (Maria's confidante) ::: Susana Poletsky (mezzo-soprano)
Georgio Talbot, (Earl of Shrewbury) ::: Reinhard Hagen (bass)
Roberto Dudley, (Earl of Leicester) ::: Yeghishe Manucharyan (tenor)
Guglielmo Cecil, (Lord Treasurer) ::: Andrew Greenan (baritone)
Stage-Director = Andrew Sinclair
Edoardo Müller/ San Diego Symphony Orchestra/ Chorus of the San Diego Opera
As in most American opera houses, the San Diego Opera's staging tend to be traditional in style rather than modernized like you'd find in continental Europe. This production of Maria Stuarda is no different. The sets and scenery by Ming Cho Lee are both simple and very beautiful, giving appropriate backdrop to the singing actors without stealing attention from them. Stage direction by Andrew Sinclair, I'll have to give a mixed verdict. The chorus is moved around the stage well, but I find the direction at some key dramatic points ..er... counterproductive toward the drama. And this (with the help of the too straight forward a translation in the sur-title) unfortunately resulted in the audience laughing at some really wrong moments during the show... like in the middle of the confrontation scene (not to mention how various characters kept addressing Queen Elisabetta with their back turned on her all opera long. How likely is that?).
As Queen Elisabetta is the American mezzo-soprano, Kate Aldrich. Hers is the most dramatically interesting character in the opera, holding the lives of others in her hands and torn between political calculations and her own desires all opera long. Much of this 'tormented indecision' that should drive the show's sense of drama is undercut by her very unqueenly manners early on in the show (round-shouldered, over the top histrionics in public setting) which takes away from the suspense of what could happen at the meeting between the two queens. You know from the first scene that Maria doesn't have a chance with this emotionally excited a monarch. I think much more tension could be sustained if Elisabetta's well known public self-control is established early on, since in the scene (Act II, scene 1) where the character can dramatically let her hair's down (so to speak, being alone with Roberto and Cecil), she is wonderful. Vocally, aside from a rather harsh sounding upper register and not so smooth legato singing at certain points, she did quite well. After all, Elisabetta is the 'dramatic' role of the opera rather than the lead 'singing' role.... which belongs to Maria.
The title role of Maria was to be sung by Angela Gilbert, but she was knocked out from the premiere with a nasty bout of stomach flu. In her place on opening night was Ermonela Jaho, the young Albanian soprano with a wonderful sense of drama... but also with such a really persistently prominent quick vibrato that it sounded like she was standing on a quaking washing machine all opera long (though it got somewhat steadier toward the end of the opera). The relentlessly quivering quality of her voice and the lack of messa di voce of any variety robbed the beautiful aria 'O nube! Che lieve per l'aria ti aggiri' of much of its heart-aching quality.... and she breathed during the held G in the final scene. That said, there is much to like about this singer. She had enough stage presence to hold your attention just by sitting still on her knees during the Act II confession scene, was daring with her high notes, and acted convincingly through out the performance. I'm not thrilled that she was directed to show Maria's haughtiness to Elisabetta before she even kneels to try to win the other queen over in the Act I confrontation scene. That makes it hard to sympathize with Maria since her bratty behavior more than deserves Elisabetta's harsh treatments... So the opportunity to show Maria as the victim was lost (mark that as a questionable stage direction).
Armenian tenor, Yeghishe Manucharyan, was an ardent Leicester, Elisabetta's favorite courtier who finds another queen more to his fancy. I'm afraid he is rather small and probably should hang toward the back of the raked stage (tilted from back to front) more, especially when the very tall Talbot of Reinhard Hagen is around. I really quite like this witty singer, but still.... he sounded like he was trying to sound much bigger than his light voice is. It might be better if he goes for a clearer, more bell-like sound that carries instead. As it went last night, it just didn’t work. In the exposed passages he sang too loudly at the expense of nuances, and when the orchestra piped up (like at the end of the Act II Elisabetta-Leicester-Cecil trio) his voice was totally covered anyway.
Reinhard Hagen was a suitably sympathetic Talbot who made his short time on the stage count and coped with Donizetti’s music much better than I expected from a Wagnerian singer. American Andrew Greenan's Cecil was powerfully sung and well acted. Susana Poretsky was a touching Anna with a prominent quick vibrato that didn't distract much from this short role.
Maestro Edoardo Müller did a fine job of keeping everyone (chorus included) together, especially since basically all the principal roles are new to this particular opera. Maria Stuarda is probably not a joy for the orchestra to play, since it really favors the voices over the instruments. I suspect the sound mixed better up in the balconies than down where I was in the orchestra level, though.
Bottom line: This gorgeous opera is so rarely performed it'd be a real shame for any fan of classical music and opera to miss it! The opening night wasn't a home run performance, but it wasn't a strike out either... and Ms Gilbert is expected to be well enough to sing Maria in later shows. The entire show (including 2 intermissions) lasted a very manageable 3 hrs. If you're in town (San Diego area) and enjoy classical music and good theater, come down to the Civic Theater in Downtown and catch one (or more) shows of Donizetti’s Mary, Queen of Scots on: February 19 (7PM), 22 (8PM), or 24(2PM) (pre-opera lectures are given one hr before performance time. For more tips, click here)
Those in San Diego County can also hear a radio broadcast of this show on KPBS, FM 89.5 on Sunday March 2nd at 7PM.
Tickets are going fast, folks! Check out www.sdopera.com and claim your seat before all the good ones are gone. I don't think this opera will get staged here again for many years!
My review of other performances from the San Diego Opera:
Le nozze di Figaro (May 2007), Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (Mar 2008), Aida (April 2008), Les Pecheurs de Perle (May 2008)
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