The Metropolitan Opera: Maria Stuarda

About the Event

Experience opera like never before in this astonishing performance of masterworks by Donizetti at New York's remarkable Metropolitan Opera House.

Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti was an Italian composer of the early 19th century. He was one of the leading composers of the bel canto opera style along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini. Over the course of his career, Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas both comic and serious. His first notable success came with a serious opera, Zoraida di Granata, which was presented in 1822 in Rome. As a result, he made a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene and shifted the attention to opera seria noble and 'serious' style operas. However, his best‐known works include comedies such as L'elisir d'amore 1832 and Don Pasquale 1843.

Maria Stuarda

A searingly emotional retelling of Friedrich Schiller's play about Mary, Queen of Scots, and the story of her political and individual relationship with Queen Elizabeth I of England, Maria Stuarda had a vexed beginning, in spite of its melodic and showy brightness.