When it premiered Mary Stuartthe opera by the Italian Gaetano Donizetti—although retitled then as Buondelmonte and with its more political aspects diluted to avoid censorship—in Naples in 1834, the two singers who played the main roles also ended up starring in a fist fight on stage. The two divas had taken the stage to personify the true story of the confrontation between Mary Stuart, Catholic Queen of Scotland, and her executioner, Elizabeth I, the Protestant Queen of England. The violent clash of opposing personalities and irreconcilable ideas assaulted reality at a time that contributed to the lack of success of the show, which was canceled after the first performance. A year later it arrived at La Scala in Milan, now with its original title and with the famous María Malibran in the role of Stuarda. Six performances later, it was also banned. Donizetti died before seeing it produced again.
More than a century passed—as is usual in operas in the current repertoire—for Donizetti’s—the 40th of the 70 he made in just 50 years of life—to be recognized as a masterpiece of the opera. beautiful song and regular protagonist of opera seasons around the world. The Teatro Real of Madrid has chosen her, in a new co-production with the Liceu of Barcelona, the Donizetti Opera Festival of Bergamo, the Moannaie of Brussels and the Finnish National Opera, with the direction of David McVicar – also in charge of opening the season with Adriana Lecouvreur—, to say goodbye to the year with 10 performances between December 14 and 30.
Donizetti’s story, with a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, although true in substance, is “deeply romanticized,” as the director of the production explained this Friday at the presentation at the Madrid theater. Added to the political struggle for the same scepter is the struggle for the same love, that of the Earl of Leicester. But romanticization, according to McVicar, does not prevent relevant underlying themes from being addressed: “Despite everything, if you listen and read it well, the work has a very present political discourse.” “The world is now as polarized and divided as it was in the 16th century. This production has made us discover that we do not see any progress in our political situation in 400 years,” said the Scottish director, acknowledging his intention to convey that idea.
The soprano Lisette Oropesa plays the main role, that of Stuarda. “She is a woman who suffered a lot and was rejected, but she is too proud and has the constant feeling of being number one. She is not innocent, nor a total protagonist,” Oropesa said as Aigul Akhmetshina, the Russian mezzo-soprano who plays Elisabetta (Queen Elizabeth I), looked on. Their relationship seems far from that of the first opera performers. belcantistaand their conception of the characters as well: both see the two queens with chiaroscuro and as victims of political and religious forces that manipulate their destiny. “The first thing to say is that Elisabetta is not a villain,” Akhmetshina said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to kill Maria, but there is no other way. What I want in this production is for people to feel empathy for that character,” he concluded. Director McVicar delved into the same idea: “Elisabetta is right, but Maria is also right. And they will never be able to understand each other’s point of view.”
That duality between goodness and evil that they describe about the characters presents an additional challenge for both interpreters. “It is the first of Donizetti’s operas that I have done that has a lot of darkness and that appears frequently, it does not have many moments of light and my voice, on the contrary, is very solar. “It has made me look for new colors and feelings,” said the soprano. Akhmetshina also encounters her own challenges: “It is very difficult to sing because it requires the vocal range of a soprano, but the intensity of a mezzo”, he said. But the problems, both have agreed, have been helped by the freedom of creation and experimentation of the musical director of the assembly, José Miguel Pérez-Sierra. “That’s why it’s called belcantor, no beldirectory”he joked. “When I do belcanto I leave my ego aside and my greatest satisfaction is helping my singers give the best of their voice. And what they propose 99% of the time is very good,” said Pérez-Sierra before the smiles of both.
Next to him, at the end of the table, the Spanish tenor Ismael Jordi, interpreter of Roberto, the Earl of Leicester, also participated in the event, a character, in his words, “very ungrateful.” “He sings a lot and then doesn’t applaud you, it makes you angry,” he said. Roberto’s is one of the characters he has represented the most in his career and he considers it “part of his life.” “He always goes over the top and the stage directors don’t usually treat him very well,” he continued. But it is in this production, with McVicar’s direction, as he acknowledged, that he has been able to “enjoy it for the first time.”