Maria Stuarda

STORY

Act 1

Scene 1

At the Palace of Westminster in London, a jousting tournament is held in honour of the French envoy, who has brought a marriage proposal from the King of France to Queen Elizabeth. The union would establish a glorious alliance between the two kingdoms. Elizabeth is uncertain about the decision. She is still in love with the Earl of Leicester, who has recently grown distant from her. Her uncertainty deepens when the celebration is disrupted by protestors demanding mercy for Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scots, who has been imprisoned for many years.

Talbot, Mary’s confidant, also urges for clemency, while Elizabeth’s advisor, Lord Cecil, pushes for signing Mary’s death sentence. He sees the Catholic Mary as a dangerous rival who could claim the throne as a legitimate heir against the Protestant Elizabeth.

The Queen summons Leicester. She entrusts him with her ring along with a message for the French envoy, stating that she has taken note of the marriage proposal but has not yet made a decision. Seeing her former lover’s indifference, she leaves angrily.

Talbot privately tells the Earl of Leicester that he visited Mary Stuart in her prison at Fotheringhay. The Queen of Scots sends a letter and a portrait of herself to the Earl, asking for his help in pleading her case to Elizabeth. Leicester is ready to risk his life to free Mary. He persuades Elizabeth to visit her cousin in prison under the pretence of a hunting trip. Though jealous and reluctant, the Queen agrees.

Scene 2

At Fotheringhay Castle, Mary and her faithful companion in captivity, Anna, enjoy a walk permitted in the park. As Mary wanders among the trees, she recalls memories of her childhood in France. She is willing to renounce the throne if only she could return there. Leicester comes to see her, assures her of his love, and urges her to behave humbly before Elizabeth. A hunting horn sounds – Elizabeth arrives, accompanied by Lord Cecil. Talbot advises Mary to remain composed. Clinging to her love for Leicester, she indeed acts humbly. She kneels before her royal cousin, pleading for her freedom. Cecil warns Elizabeth not to be fooled by what he sees as a deceitful performance. In a fit of jealousy, the queen begins to insult Mary, accusing her of promiscuity and of having murdered her husband, Henry. The hot-tempered Mary loses control and calls Elizabeth a vulgar whore and the bastard of Anne Boleyn, who desecrates the throne of England. With that, her fate is sealed. The queen summons the guards and has Mary returned to her prison.

 Act 2

Cecil obtains evidence that Mary was involved in a Catholic conspiracy against Elizabeth. At the Palace of Westminster, the death sentence lies on the Queen’s desk. Yet Elizabeth hesitates. If she signs it, she risks inciting the wrath of all Catholic Europe. Cecil urges her to act: every English subject is ready to avenge her death if necessary, but if she does not sign, she endangers her own life. Torn by uncertainty, Elizabeth, upon seeing the approaching Leicester, quickly and indifferently signs the death warrant. She gives it to Cecil with the instruction to carry out the execution the next day. Leicester begs her to withdraw the order, which condemns an innocent woman to death. But Elizabeth is merciless and commands the earl to witness the execution of his beloved.

Lord Cecil brings the news of the execution to Mary in her prison at Fotheringhay Castle. Mary accepts her fate. Her loyal friend Talbot visits her before the bloody hour. She confesses her sins to him: she is haunted by the ghosts of her second husband, Lord Henry Dudley, and her secretary, Rizzio – they died because of her. Talbot grants her absolution, and Mary goes to her death guiltless. She asks Anna and her ladies-in-waiting to pray with her to God rather than weep. She bids a final farewell to the Earl of Leicester as well. In her last words, she turns to God: may her innocently shed blood bring peace, and may He not strike oath-breaking England.

INSIGHTS

Female leaders in a masculine world
 

Director Máté Szabó about Maria Stuarda

In the opera written 190 years ago by Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Bardari, two charismatic women – two great personalities – clash in a masculine world. The tragic fate of Mary Stuart has inspired numerous works of art. Elizabeth’s forty-four-year reign is often referred to as England’s Golden Age. She yielded neither to courtly pressure nor to suitors, establishing the cult of the Virgin Queen.

The two Tudor queens are radically different in character. While the Protestant Elizabeth is chaste, cautious, self-sacrificing, and tactical, the Catholic Mary is a man-eater, hot-headed, passionate and open. They have two things in common: their love for England and for the Earl of Leicester.

The setting of the first act is the world of imperial constraint. Familiar themes shine through this historical tale, such as the question of external and internal freedom, or the price a female leader must pay in a masculine world. The functioning of the state hinges on the extreme restriction of a woman's fate: Protestant England must unite with Catholic France, while protests erupt before the royal palace demanding Mary’s release. Elizabeth must account for every breath she takes to Parliament, the military, and the people, caught in the crossfire of political and religious intrigue. At the height of power, human relationships no longer offer connection. She awaits a divine sign to help her decide Mary’s fate. A snow-white halo appears and reappears throughout the performance.

The courtyard of Mary’s prison in Act 2 offers the illusion of true freedom: prison is reality, yet the distant blue sea evokes the feeling of infinity. The two queens meet under the open sky. Elizabeth visits Mary’s prison under the pretence of a hunt – symbolic in nature, as the prey is Mary herself. A person becomes vulnerable to their enemy when they have not faced their own sins.

Above them, the snow-white halo appears; within its glowing circle, they pursue and tear at one another. Mary becomes truly free when she calls Elizabeth a whore and a bastard, shedding the last spark of her need to conform. In this way, Mary becomes free, while Elizabeth becomes a prisoner – trapped by her own position. By the end of the performance, their statuses are reversed. Leicester gives his heart to Mary, depriving Elizabeth of love.

Donizetti’s opera is heartbreakingly lyrical and emotional; above all its motifs heighten the Catholic apotheosis – not in the religious sense. Mary’s confession and prayer represent a kind of self-knowledge and purification, a form of transcendental freedom: the conscious transcendence of human mind and soul, liberating itself from all fear and earthly constraints.