Tune in to WQXR at 1 pm on Saturday to hear Sondra Radvanovsky take on the title role in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, as the ill-fated Queen of Scots. This is the second of the composer's "three queens" operas, all of which Radvanovsky will sing this season, previously playing Anna Bolena. (She will portray Queen Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereux this spring).
Riccardo Frizza conducts the opera, about the historical clash between Mary and Queen Elizabeth I, sung by Elza van den Heever. Tenor Celso Albelo is Leicester, a confident of both women. The 2012 production is by Sir David McVicar.
Cast:
Maria Stuarda: Sondra Radvanovsky
Elisabetta: Elza van den Heever
Leicester: Celso Albelo
Cecil: Patrick Carfizzi
Talbot: Kwangchul Youn