Two queens, one throne, and notes that could shatter actual glass.
A masterpiece of bel canto at the Teatro Real in Madrid: conductor José Miguel Pérez-Sierra and director David McVicar take on Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, with Lisette Oropesa in the title role.
Acting
Oropesa's Maria—vulnerable, defiant, devastating final scene.
Direction
McVicar's staging: intimate prison vs. cold court spectacle.
Cinematography
Roussillon's close-ups catch every tremor, every tear.
Director
François Roussillon
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Donizetti's opera was banned before its 1835 premiere—the censors feared the queen-on-queen violence would incite revolution.
Oropesa, a Cuban-American soprano, faced visa delays that nearly canceled this run—making her defiant Maria feel personally lived.
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