Donizetti - Maria Stuarda - Region 0 DVD

Not a promising description, but it works like a charm. The Czech actors, the German speaking voices, and the recorded singers are all first-class and Petr Weigl has blended their efforts with dazzling skill. Most hard-core opera fans, who have already accepted the concept of two British queens singing at one another in Italian, should be able to handle the whole package. The story (of the condemnation and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, by her rival, Queen Elizabeth I) is a powerful one, and both Schiller and Donizetti have exploited it for all its worth. The central scene--a face-to-face confrontation between Mary and Elizabeth--never actually happened, but it makes crackling drama, and in this production it has enormous impact. --Joe McLellan