A full-scale stage production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda is being presented for the 1st time in Hungary!

Starring Klára Kolonits, Gabriella Balga, and Juraj Hollý in the leading roles, conducted by Martin Rajna and directed by Máté Szabó, a full-scale stage production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda is being presented for the first time in Hungary. The grand production, featuring the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, will premiere on 10 May 2025, at the Opera House, and the 16 May performance will be streamed live on OperaVision.

While Queen Elizabeth I of England is being courted by foreign suitors, the monarch, in despair, realizes that Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester and dear to her heart, bestows his attention instead on Mary Stuart. After some hesitation, the earl confesses his intentions: he is interceding on behalf of the Scottish queen, who has been under house arrest for 18 years, to arrange a personal meeting between the two royal cousins to settle their disputes. However, the intense emotions that erupt during the tense encounter soon seal the fate of the prisoner.

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Maria Stuarda is the story of two women with great dignity, each vulnerable in different ways. Although both Donizetti and the Schiller play that served as the opera’s source enriched the real events with numerous literary elements – such as the love triangle and the meeting between the two queens – the complex premise has fascinated later generations for centuries, continually inspiring new interpretations by artists. The work, evoking the finest musical traditions of Italian bel canto now being staged by Máté Szabó, one of the most talented directors of spoken and musical theatre of his generation. “We see a political labyrinth in which two radiant figures search for a path to each other and to themselves,” describes the director the premise.

The premiere at the Opera House is accompanied by a spectacular visual world befitting the occasion, created by internationally acclaimed designer Csaba Antal, known for his set designs in numerous productions by Balázs Kovalik (Peter Grimes, The Turn of the Screw, Elektra, Mefistofele), and costume designer Anni Füzér, a regular collaborator of Máté Szabó (L’italiana in Algeri, Manon Lescaut, John, the Valiant). Lighting is by Csaba Szilárdi, video projections by Zsombor Czeglédi, and stage movement by Gergely Csanád Kováts.

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Maria Stuarda is presented at the Opera House with a top-tier cast. In the title role appears Klára Kolonits, Kammersängerin of the Hungarian State Opera and recipient of the Kossuth and Liszt Prizes. The internationally acclaimed coloratura soprano previously made a highly successful debut in the role in a concert performance in Szeged. Her rival, Elizabeth I, is played by fellow Kammersängerin Gabriella Balga, who has partnered with Kolonits in Così fan tutte and Les Huguenots at the OPERA, and Norma in Debrecen.