A subject of great fascination and intrigue for centuries, the tumultuous life of Mary Queen of Scots has been explored extensively in books, TV series and films. In 1977 the award-winning, internationally acclaimed Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave turned the story of Mary’s life into a three act opera. Directed with passion and deftness by Stewart Laing, and conducted by Joana Carneiro with relentless verve, this is the first time that this opera has been shown in London since 1980.
This is a grand opera in the Verdian tradition, lucidly drawn and broadly traditional in its structure, even to the extent that it includes dance episodes and on-stage music, but written in a compelling mid-20th-century idiom which permits the text (Musgrave’s own, based on a play by Amalia Elguera) to communicate.
The opera focuses on Mary’s return to Scotland following her first widowhood and her first few years in power prior to fleeing to England. It casts Mary’s return from France to Scotland into the ferment of conflicting religious factions between her half-brother James, who starts as her protector but ends up as her usurper, and Darnley, the playboy English aristocrat to whom she is unwisely attracted and marries.
In the title role, Heidi Stober, is supremely confident, with a commanding top range, portraying Mary with immense gravitas and a sparkling, tangible passion. She masterfully conveys how much of Mary’s power and agency was limited and controlled by the powerful Lords around her. Mary’s inner strength, grace and vulnerability is laid bare in a performance that is laden with pathos. Rupert Charlesworth’s dandy-like Darnley, her drunk and fickle English husband, matches her well. Baritone Alex Otterburn is somewhat more sober but less charismatic as the scheming James Stewart, Mary’s elder, but ineligible brother. Also key to the well-sculpted plot are John Findon, who plays the vicious Lord-Bothwell with palpable ferocity and Barnaby Rea as Riccio, murdered by his friend Darnley. Other noteworthy contributions come from Alastair Miles, who plays a brooding, powerfully voiced Lord Gordon, Felicity Buckland, Sian Griffiths, Jolyon Loy, Monica McGhee, Darren Jeffrey and Jenny Stafford.
Stewart Laing’s stark, loosely contemporary, black-walled set, houses a simple gazebo which is seen in various stages of construction throughout the opera. The set is used to symbolise the way in which Mary is slowly boxed into a corner by her decisions and those of others, as well as subtly suggesting the passage of time. Mady Berry’s ’70’s costuming lends a faintly modern feel. DM Wood’s lighting is effective in highlighting the tragedy, heightening the atmospheric tension, and portending the dark denouement, whilst Alex McCabe’s choreography is crisp and stimulating.
This is a stirringly passionate, intense and scandal filled opera, packed with drama and historicity. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 45 years to see it on a London stage again.
ENO London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ES
