Maria Stuarda, one of the so-called "Tudor operas," takes almost as many liberties with geography as it does with history. However, Donizetti knew what would and wouldn't make good theater, and fiction triumphed over history.

Both female protagonists are sharply drawn in all of their different emotional aspects, and the climax of the conflict between Elizabeth and Mary comes in a personal confrontation between the two queens. Mary loses all of her reserve in the face of Elizabeth's insults, and calls her "the bastard daughter of a harlot." This highly effective scene in the opera contributed to Donizetti's difficulties. The two prima donnas playing Mary and Elizabeth at the initial production hated one another so much that when the moment came for Del Serre, playing Mary, to insult Elizabeth, she is said to have been so convincing in her delivery that the other singer, Giuseppina Ronzi, attacked her, bit and scratched her, pulled her hair, and so physically overpowered her that she had to be carried out of the theater. Even so, the dress rehearsal was very well received, and Donizetti's music was judged superb. The climactic screamfest would have resonances down through the subsequent history of Italian opera, but soon Donizetti found his opera ensnared in political difficulties.

The history of Maria Stuarda is long and complicated. Although it is in the repertory today, it was performed in its original version only once during Donizetti's lifetime, and modern performances are based on scores of varying authenticity. The source of Maria Stuarda is the play Maria Stuart, by Friedrich von Schiller, translated into Italian by Andrea Maffei and subsequently put into libretto form by Giuseppe Bardari. The subject matter would turn out to be the biggest problem for Donizetti, who saw his new tragedia lyrica banned for the depiction of royalty on stage. Only by transplanting much of the music into a new libretto was Donizetti able to have the work performed. This version, under the title of Buondelmonte was first offered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, October 18, 1834.

The first real performance of the original Maria Stuarda was given at La Scala, in Milan, on December 30, 1835. It featured the famous Maria Malibran in the title role and was a political scandal because she refused to incorporate changes deemed necessary by government censors. The work was again banned, and Donizetti would never again attempt a true revival (although watered-down versions continued to be produced during his lifetime).

© All Music Guide

Buondelmonte, opera (2nd vers., Maria Stuarda)

When Donizetti composed his opera Maria Stuarda, he expected a complete triumph with the critics and public. It was his strongest romantic tragedy to date, and everything indicated that the public loved romantic tragedies. After an extremely successful dress rehearsal, all was in readiness for the opera's premiere, when the King of Naples intervened and banned the opera completely. He forbade it from being performed in Naples at all, and Donizetti was left with a completed score and a rehearsed cast at the last minute. At that time, censors and those in power were extremely leery of any subject with violence or that portrayed royalty in an unfavorable light, or in this case one that showed a royal personage being beheaded on-stage, for fear of the public unrest such a subject might cause. Many of Donizetti's operas ran afoul of the censors and were prohibited, or had to be rewritten, to satisfy conservative fears. The Prince di Torella, the manager of the Naples theaters, wanted to stage a work by Donizetti, for the Neapolitans loved his operas, so he worked out a deal with the composer. Donizetti was to take his score and adapt it to a new subject. For this service he would of course be paid extra.

At first, Donizetti wanted to set the story of Lady Jane Grey, but her tale also ends in a bloody execution. The subject which was decided upon was that of Buondelmonte, and the conflict between the families of the Guelphs and Ghibellines of Florence. Pietro Salatino wrote the new libretto, and the opera premiered on October 18, 1834. This 1834 production was the only one the opera of Buondelmonte would ever see. Donizetti was extremely committed to his original work, and immediately sought a new theater to stage his Maria Stuarda.

© Rita Laurance, All Music Guide