Maria Stuarda: "Figlia impura di Bolena" -- Joyce DiDonato & Elza van den Heever (Met Opera)

Act I finale from Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda." Joyce DiDonato (Mary), Elza van den Heever (Elizabeth), Matthew Polenzani (Leciester).
Watch the entire performance on Met Opera on Demand: bit.ly/1uDBjpy
Production: David McVicar
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
The Metropolitan Opera
2012-13 Season
Don’t miss Joyce DiDonato in the title role of Massenet’s Cendrillon in the 2017-18 season. April 12 - May 11, 2018.

[@DanteTerran]

1:11 I have got to commend Joyce DiDonato for spot on portrayal of Stuarda's righteous indignation with simultaneous realization that she is condemned to death. also mixed in are subtle emotions of vindication, joy, fear, and hopelessness. it's very powerful.

[@gernotfreyler3889]

Despite the fact that the two had never seen each other, Donizetti got it quiet well.

[@biancacastafiore8760]

not donizetti, it was based on a schiller play...

[@ballyhigh11]

@@biancacastafiore8760 ...which was based on a libretto by Bardanni which was based on a translation by Maffei. And Schiller's work was no doubt based on Scottish folk stories, which were probably translated from the original Scots, through English, to German. It's all about the interpretation, and this is very much Donizetti's.

[@cl8594]

The acting!!! Amazing. No Hollywood stars could express the complex feeling of catharsis and "what have I done" kind of fear.

[@baronochs]

Elisabetta's body was broken by that point in her life..she had a strong mind but she had aged..she was almost held up by her clothing. In her 40s but the body of a 70 year old. This production was just stunning.

[@gernotfreyler3889]

This encounter between Maria and Elisabeth has never happend. It is invention by Friedrich Schiller for his play "Maria Stuart" ( in German).

[@jjh2456]

The way Joyce delivers that phrase...GOOSEBUMPS!!!

[@herrbrucvald6376]

Her acting of this moment is perfect, perfect. Elizabeth is perfect also. Such truth and simplicity!

[@jjh2456]

!mrdunn brucvald Elisabetta has become a signature role for Elsa van den Heever.

[@selini52]

Wonderful singer and actress

[@draganvidic2039]

Very lame compared to the great ones

[@bobbetts1324]

why not enlighten us?@@draganvidic2039

[@pericleslarrua3193]

Di donato es una fiera emitiendo potencia en escena. Bien por ella !!!

[@antben8992]

Dizione straordinaria e altrettanto impeto drammatico! Più che brava!

[@kyberwolf2933]

Seen it in Belgium , Di Donato and Van Heever, two coloratura's in one company, the Met hit the jackpot, Mary's prayer wet my eyes

[@josephbasha2941]

Joyce Is the perfect Human to render justice to my Great composer Donizetti aspiration

[@jitomatebola]

Didonato 🐐🐐👎

[@rolandetisseyre113]

Sublime ! J'ai pu acheter le DVD disponible sur Amazon. Quelle force, quelle beauté!

[@thenexjodan]

Remember, Joyce is only a Mezzo, so the absent high notes were most likely on purpose. She is just so stunning! Both vocally and dramatically!

[@Ignasimp]

@Imagique I head her live and I could perfectly hear her low notes. In fact i remember that when she sang the lowest was when i felt most thrilled about her voice when I heard her live.

[@Richardflo15]

Live is always better than on video... great performance but microphones are very difficult to record live... happens with many of Met productions... crystal clear live, but in the recording microphone don't handle well all the sounds

[@Richardflo15]

She's definitely stunning!

[@davidjaraba5936]

They're perfect for the role because this role was premiered for soprano sfogato or assoluta that are basically mezzos trained to sing in the soprano register.

[@draganvidic2039]

Joyce is a short soprano singing mezzo roles. Maria Stuarda is not very high, the added high notes (D:s) are stylistic choices made by singers.

[@TheDali2574]

divine !!!

[@JoanatNo29]

From my recollection of history, the two never actually met. The entire 'confrontation' is a fiction simply for dramatic effect.

[@wilsonwatt9283]

Yes and every play, movie and opera about the two have a confrontation because without it there is very little actual drama in their relationship. This is what distinguishes historical FICTION [whether operatic, dramatic, or cinematic] from real history.

[@biancacastafiore8760]

it's based on a play by schiller... and their enmity was not personal, it was political.

[@ballyhigh11]

Yup, it's one of the greatest meetings that never happened.

[@herrbrucvald6376]

This gave me chills. Joyce is too fabulous. Donizetti is such a genius---as great as Mozart or Wagner! Superb staging/singing/acting. If only the Met were at this level more frequently. Now....when will there be a great 'Maria di Rohan' at the Met?!

[@pianismo9062]

Mozart and Wagner are in a class of their own I think, this is a superb vehicle for voices but the music is so poor...

[@tatianakrevel8377]

Brava!

[@lindsaydenman1835]

This is grand, perfect theater. Bravo.

[@allenfoust6713]

Prefer Devia at La Scala her high notes were spectacular. This production was nice.

[@javiersoprano]

Elizabeth had a problem with her hips and in later life needed to use a walking stick. Here she is angry and is pacing up and down trying to handle her anger, but has an obvious problem walking.

[@jitomatebola]

Stuarda🐐🐐🐐

[@Ignasimp]

And some people say she has no chest voice or that she is nasal and lacks power. Her voice is perfectly resonant. She has a lighter voice than some other mezzos, but lighter doesn't mean softer.

[@draganvidic2039]

First of all she’s a soprano possibly a lyric one. Voice is small and maybe short on top. So she became a lyric mezzo which was a fach that didn’t exist long ago. She’s a short soprano.

[@Ignasimp]

@@draganvidic2039 yeah. I was uneducated at that time. Or manipulated with modern singing pedagogy lies, to be more exact.

[@Yotam1703]

@@Ignasimp da fuck? Don’t let any stranger on KZbin diminish your love for your favorite singers. Joyce has one of the most agile voices I have ever heard (just listen to her trill! EVER!). She has the lower tessitura and slightly darker color and heavier weight of a mezzo. With this much agility, if she had been a soprano, she would’ve had to have an extension wide into the 6th octave. And trust me. If she could sing coloratura soprano, she would. In fact, she sometimes does: Armida, Semiramide, Zelmira... all dramatic coloratura soprano roles (which, she isn’t...) which are often sung by *coloratura mezzos*.

[@Ignasimp]

@@Yotam1703 nah, she is a soprano. I've heard much better singers now with much more developed chestvoices. Even sopranos have a deeper and chestier sound than her. No one told me to stop loving anyone. My taste developed thanks to learning about better singers than her and about proper singing.

[@jochemb.1748]

They are argueing a little, this is not a catfight 😭😭😭

[@jimkingsley4356]

Brava and bravo to all the cast. Remarkable opera.

Nobody here seems to know that Donizetti's opera is based on Schiller's "Mary Stuart", which actually is far from history.

[@assindiastignani5015]

+Mónica Elisabeth Sacco In fact, all educated people know that, and have indeed read the play - in German. Interestingly, this encounter never took place in real life. It is a brilliant invention of Friedrich Schiller, a supreme dramatist.

+assindiastignani Right!

[@mariaruskova6054]

Don Carlos is also far from history.

[@rogerpropes7129]

But every movie made about Mary Queen of Scots--Kate Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave--adds it for dramatic effect, and it may just possibly have occurred in secret.

[@OscarGraumusico]

Molto vibrato...

[@bodiloto]

perché non è una mezzo vera. questa voce appartiene alla corda del soprano.

[@voce29]

Absolutely stunning!!!

[@simonrosenblum1320]

DiDonato gives us a master class every time she sings.I see the MET is doing this opera in 2019-2020. This production will be a tough act to follow.

[@draganvidic2039]

Of not how to sing. Small, squeezed and with caprino. What’s good with that?

[@fontdemora]

Maravillosa Joyce diDonato.

[@helenaroubkova9236]

Úžasné.

[@MrFUHGEDDABOUDIT]

Superp !!!

[@cevozza]

Impresionante!!!!

[@MuscleDaddyCMH]

SHARP SHARP SHARP ...god...

[@wotan10950]

Wow! Joyce's anger knows no bounds, I wouldn't want to get in her way. She didn't stint on voice either with that grand sound, missing only those final high notes that we became accustomed to from Sills and Sutherland.

[@davidsenatore1880]

Mary never became queen as she desired, but her son became king.

[@maria_manias]

BRAVI!!

[@Samuel6969ify]

Che bella e particolare voce ha la Di Donato e che grinta ma dovrebbe dedicarsi soprattutto a Rossini . E' l'unica oggi che potrebbe non farci rimpiangere troppo la grandissima Horne.

[@willemtates8232]

Brava 🎼🌷🌷🌷🌷🎼

[@gvbrandolini]

Interessante

[@chus1947]

Me encanto la DiDonato una maravilla bravoooooooooo y todos los demas

[@rosy3385]

Un très beau spectacle du MET avec distribution prestigieuse !

[@Connie193]

i think this is going to be good although i must say from what i see here i prefer the production from the Scala with Mariella Devia. she's still the best Maria Stuarda i've ever heard... anyway i'm looking forward seeing the Met's production at the cinema.

[@biancacastafiore8760]

is that the one with antonacci and meli????

[@metacarple]

The very best was at ENO in the early 1980s with Dame Janet Baker as Mary and Rosalind Plowright as Elizabeth. A stunning production with superb musical performances conducted by Sir Charles Mackerass.

[@Samuel6969ify]

Per fortuna possiamo ascoltare la Stuarda della Genger e Verrett per consolarci! Ma saremo sempre obbligati ad ascoltare vecchie incisioni per avere esecuzioni accettabili? E la Di Donato è una grande oggi ma dovrebbe limitarsi a Rossini.

[@arthurfilemon6038]

!!!!! this !!!!!

[@pambazo55]

Excelente canto y actuación de ambas

[@user-lt9xm5pk5l]

Not Act I finale, It is Act 2 finale. Isn't it?

[@gosualexis]

Joyce Didonato nothing else needed to be said to go see that opera

[@Houdi2]

Uh oh. I think something bad is gonna happen.

[@TheDali2574]

mon étoile....éblouissante !!!!

[@LohengrinO]

She could have taken the D6, why not?

[@LohengrinO]

who has quite an easy D6.. it would have been monumental

[@draganvidic2039]

Lohengrin O Don’t think it’s written in the score

[@susannevollmer2347]

Eliza looks like Bette Davis very nice!

[@anneweil7880]

7

[@FlughafenBetch]

Seeing this last night at the met almost made me shit my chair. Bravissimi!

[@operabilia]

Lovely operetta singing!

[@draganvidic2039]

Exactly. Small singing. Meow.

[@Lorenzo-be1nm]

The best, BEST part of this is the MINUTE 3:00, the WONDERFULLY LOOKING YOUNG COURT MAN on the left of Queen Elizabeth I... the rest is really bad.

[@arthurfilemon6038]

Look at all that... virility.

[@alainbergeron4520]

Who is he..? A friend of yours?

[@jjh2456]

@kph11863 well it is actually based on history. Donazetti probably took some license with the actual story but this really did hsppen.

[@wilsonwatt9283]

No, this did not really happen. The poster who points out that the two never met is absolutely correct. This is a fictional drama which cannot be seen as "real" history. Certainly, the two were rivals in terms of each having a type of claim to the English throne but they never met.

[@biancacastafiore8760]

not to mention, it is not donizetti. he based it on a schiller play... same with roberto devereux, highly fictionalized.

[@Lilith89ibz]

Joyce's acting is flawless but I don't understand why the director made Elisabetta stumble and look insecure. If Elizabeth was anything, she was a strong woman.

[@oliviajones1043]

It was because of all the lead poisoning from her makeup, most likely.

[@UncleLouie867]

Stuarda has been around a long time with Sills and Galvany at the City Opera, Gencer, Sutherland, Caballe' all singing it. What's all this fuss just because it's at the Met. ?? 'I'll take Janet Baker any day. Now THERE was a voice. Is it just because the Met. has been doing so many terrible productions with boring voices that "they're" all raving about this?? Who cares!

[@albertbauli]

Well, DiDonato gave a stellar performance, one of those that will be remembered for many years to come and the rest of the production was top notch. Add in the full HD and the great audio quality, compared to those in the past, and you have something to rewatch and enjoy for which the MET can be proud of.

[@arthurfilemon6038]

@@albertbauli oh so your take that it was a stellar performance is due to "HD and great audio quality"? Watch it live then give your opinion about a stellar performance. A good actress, perhaps. A good singer? Yes, but not a role for her.

[@albertbauli]

​@@arthurfilemon6038 I didn't say that! Don't twist my words or, please, learn to read. Nevertheless, I did see her live in Liceo, same role, same production, and it was the greatest voice I ever heard live on stage. I never heard a voice so full of harmonics that filled the hall effortlesly even in the most pianissimo passages. (Well, Amanda Forsythe, with a different voice and styile, did produce me a similar impression.) For me, her performance was historic only disputed by the greatest classic Maria Stuarda, Leyla Gencer, and I've heard all the recordings I managed to find ( Caballé really good, Sills amazing, Sutherland doesn't do it for me, neither Gruverova). I gess it is a matter of taste. Why is it not a role for her? Because she can't hit those high notes sopranos add in the end of both acts? They aren't even written in the original score so, who cares? If it is not that, please tell me why you think it is not a role for her because for me she embodied the perfect Stuarda, in voice and character.

[@arthurfilemon6038]

@@albertbauli DiDonato is a good actress and may convey that to the audience, but even in recordings you can hear how she strains her voice to reach the high notes that are written. Bel Canto is also about embellishment of what the composer wrote, and any singer should learn to do that. If she cannot add anything different, or add any layer of climax by adding a high note, it's not a role she should be performing in a major Opera House. She's good doing Rossini and composers before him. Other than that, she just strains her voice and loses control on her top. It's unhealthy and it's an ugly sound. Also even in a recording you can barely hear the difference between her and the chorus, I can't imagine how small the voice sounds in real life in such a setting. Your reasons are based on a limited sample of good singing. If you've ever listened to Caballe, Gruberova, Sills, Gencer, you wouldn't have this opinion. Those singers mentioned above had time to culture their voices, to master their instrument, to hone their craft. It transcends taste and becomes just a matter of pure artistic value. DiDonato didn't reach that, nor will she, even tho all the PR around her manages to manipulate listeners to think so.

[@KB1.1]

@@arthurfilemon6038 wow. Harsh.

[@XPRT10R]

NOPE.

[@jmiller05]

Elizabeth was the Queen of England, not a bumbling hunchback on stage. DiDonato sings it with great polish and adheres to the scene well, but I can't help but think there's something a little dull about this production. In fact the met in recent years seemed to have carved out some really dull productions.

[@armando25868]

Il ruolo è per sopano lirico dicolratura !!??? E non la di donato quindi è orribile il vibrato largo e lminterpretazione

[@acacia-bloom]

It definitely looks like an pathetic imitation of Bette Davis. Couldn't the director David McVicar come up with anything more original than copying a brilliant iconic screen portrayal of the figure? Having said that, both ladies do an extremely fine job!

[@raymondhughes8930]

Really really lame compared to Devia and Antonacci at La Scala on opening night 2008.

[@chung-chiehhung2720]

As much I like DiDonato, I still think a soprano is better suited for the role, I don't know why they cast a mezzo

[@podkowalesna]

Great effort yet totally unnecessary..... Maria Stuarda without a great soprano? What for?

[@azriel8549]

Quizá sea por el tipo de vibrato de DiDonato, pero me parece que canta casi siempre demasiado alto, es decir, una coma más agudo que el tono que corresponde. Elza van den Heever pareciera que está coja verdaderamente o, a lo mejor, la regie le manda a andar de esa manera, es muy extraño de ver. Con todo respeto por los artistas y por la gente a quienes les agrada, pero me parece muy bajo el nivel de lo que se ve y se oye aquí. Saludos cordiales.

[@gregorysmith3550]

It really needs a soprano.

[@draganvidic2039]

Not necessarily. Why do you say that?

[@LaDivinaLover]

Is that supposed to be a riding habit Elizabeth is wearing? LOLs

[@bodiloto]

dove trovano questi cantanti?... vocalità orrenda ! livello artistico 2 anno del conservatorio... qual'è questa bruttissima operetta buffa ?!... poveri noi !

[@vincenzoanzoletti1296]

Infatti! La Gencer e la Verrett in questa scena un altro pianeta.....

[@Bumblebeebeebee]

Mimimimi

[@jasonhurd4379]

The harmonically bland and melodically dull 'Buondelmonte' stretta is used here, all because it appears in the critical edition. Musicologists are not always right, and sometimes musicality and good judgment trump what is technically correct. The original Stuarda stretta should be restored at once.

[@assindiastignani5015]

This staging is basicly concertante with costumes and makeup. The chorus just stands in a group and watches the conductor all evening. The main characters alternate between stock opera-clichée gestures, and just standing stiffly around also staring at the conductor. A pity, because they are all physically very talented and could do more. Fortunately they sing well enough to make up for it.

[@vcsam12]

What, exactly, do you want them to do?

[@grzegorzpieniek6422]

Male voices are quite good, but Joyce - incorrect, ugly vibrato (tremolo), Elza - woofy voice. This is not belcanto (=beautiful singing), this is ugly singing. Btw the dress Elisabeth is wearing is historically incorrect, as it shows fashion features closer to roccoco, rather than to the Tudor period. Who do you want to fool? We are not blind and not deaf!

[@jacobcheung2661]

I agree. And not enough acting!

[@Eiswirth1]

I applaud DiDonato's characterization of Stuarda, but her voice has always annoyed me. The vibrato is far too fast and simply not beautiful. For me, the greatest rendition of this scene is Sutherland's 1971 live recording; it completely destroys the notion she was a dull singer, and the voice is magnificent, ending on a high note that lets everyone know she's in control of her destiny. It's on YT; check it out.

[@sandorkonya8005]

That is Mini Mouse singing Elisabeth is a joke ... no sound no volume no depth ... listen to Verrett / Gencer and you know what great singing is, just my opinion

[@natanaelgorrin9473]

Las dos están terribles, realmente fuera de estilo, de inmediato a escuchar a la Caballé, Sills, Sutherland, Devia, Verret, Galvany, Baltsa, actualmente a Marina Rebeka, infame la producción y peor las cantantes en esta producción del Met.

[@grzegorzpieniek6422]

Si! Están terribles, no pueden cantar la música de Donizetti

[@JoanBette]

Ugh that vibrato. She should stick to Rossini

[@davideferrari5702]

Per carità...di Donato canto fastidioso...

[@MrSkylark1]

A lot of shouting, devoid of Chiaroscuro.

[@jitomatebola]

Didonato horrible👎🐐🐐🐐

[@ransomcoates546]

Such terrible singing from them both.

[@Bumblebeebeebee]

Mimimimi

[@Tkimba2]

Indeed

[@grzegorzpieniek6422]

Very terrible! The person who hired them must be deaf

[@fan2jnrc]

What's the point with Elizabeth's dress??? Ridiculous. Musically, that's a very dull, flat and boring version of this scene btw. I'd hardly put 10/20.

[@mihordeadana2368]

That sceamy soprano is so lame in comparison to joyce.