Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (complete opera recorded in 2009)

"Maestro Carminati looks an amiable, gentle soul as he enters the pit but he unleashes a firestorm of tension and passion in the big duets and his judicious tempi bind Donizetti's not-so-easy recitatives into flowing music-drama. Ganassi is in superb fettle throughout, encompassing both power and agility...An outstanding release, and a great relief to be removed from the static period costume displays normally inflicted on this drama." DVD of the Month Gramophone Magazine, May 2011

"Carminati leads La Fenice's orchestra in a powerful reading yet with a supportive flow of sound in more reflective passages. All the acrimony, antagonism and enmity can be felt...Ganassi makes a strong figure, strongly sung, her voice full toned as she encompasses the scalework of her opening aria...[Cedolins] brings a dramatic intensity to her performance." International Record Review, April 2011

The recording was made at Venice's beautiful Teatro La Fenice.

With his sharp and lively conducting, Fabrizio Maria Carminati puts the Orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice entirely at the service of three exceptional singers, Sonia Ganassi ("an extraordinary performance," Opera Today) as Elisabetta, Fiorenza Cedolins ("colorful, nuanced, highly dramatic heroine," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) as Maria Stuarda, and José Bros as a passionate Leicester.

"Maria Stuarda" is the most popular work in Donizetti's trilogy of bel canto operas on Tudor queens.

Running Time Opera: 140 minutes