Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart)

“...this new recording presents us very much with an ensemble performance... no one is allowed to do anything notably showy or scene-stealing...Riccardo Frizza drives the first two acts onwards with furious momentum” The Guardian, 7th January 2010 ***

“Sutherland has only to trill or sing a rapid scale or sustain a high, pure note, and I warm to her afresh...Bonynge's conducting has its usual feeling for the spring of a rhythm and the build of a climax; the recording is clear and well balanced.” Gramophone Magazine, September 1990

“Pavarotti turns Leicester into a passionate Italian lover...as for Sutherland, she is at her most fully dramatic too...Bonynge directs an urgent account of an unfailingly enjoyable opera...the score is slightly cut, but this remains the most generally recommendable versions of this marvellously dramatic work.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

'‘Here are Janet Baker and Rosalind Plowright firing on all cylinders as the rival queens of Scotland and England … Charles Mackerras is the superb conductor; would that he had given us more Donizetti while at the Coliseum.’' The Times on CHAN 3017

“This revival celebrates the association of Janet Baker and Charles Mackerras within the context of the ENO company and one of its most memorable productions. For those who saw this, the set will call the stage back to mind with wonderful vividness; but the appeal goes well beyond that, preserving a performance stamped with the strong individuality that confers the status of a gramophone classic. This brought a personal triumph for Janet Baker and it impresses afresh by the distinctiveness of her vocal characterisation. It isn't every singer who reflects, or re-creates, the distinctive identities through vocal colour and 'registration'. Everyone who was there will remember the 'Royal bastard!' in confrontation with Elizabeth, but equally powerful, and more regal, is her command – 'Be silent! Leave me!' – to the Lord Chancellor of England who brings to Fotheringay news of her condemnation to death. By contrast, the quieter moments can be immensely moving, as, for instance, in the line in which she acknowledges an unexpected generosity in her great opponent. In that role, Rosalind Plowright gives what surely must have been one of the supreme performances of her career.
The writing for Elizabeth makes immense demands of the singer, and in these fearsome opening solos the technical challenges are triumphantly met.
John Tomlinson's massive bass commands attention (which it doesn't then always reward with evenness of production). The male soloists have not the most grateful of roles, but Alan Opie's Cecil shows its quality in the duet with Elizabeth, and David Rendall endows the ineffectual Leicester with plenty of Italianate ardour. The chorus has limited opportunities, and has certainly been heard to better advantage on other occasions.
A word of warning must be added concerning texts which involve cuts and adaptations. The transpositions are defended as standard practice when an exceptional mezzo-soprano (such as Malibran) took a soprano role, in the present instance merely conforming to the lower orchestral pitch of Donizetti's time. However, it's unlikely that at this date the set would be bought or rejected with this kind of consideration foremost.
What remains are the strong positives, most notably the vitality of Mackerras's conducting and the glory of Baker's singing. Also, for those to whom this is a priority, the opera is given in clear English.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“[Verrett] produces Elisabetta's anger with strength but also inserting sweet diminuendi...Cecil's unshaken dislike of Maria is displayed in Giulio Fioravanti's steady vocalism. Maria must have been one of Caballe's most animated roles...This is an issue worth buying for her and Verrett.” International Record Review, December 2011