Mary, Queen of Scots at SF Opera

I saw Mary, Queen of Scots, a 1977 opera by the Scottish composer Thea Musgrave, at its 1979 West Coast premiere at the Curran Theater. Nearly fifty years later, it has been revived at the SF Opera in a bare bones, modern dress co-production with the English National Opera, and it's a happy surprise to report that the piece has aged brilliantly. The libretto, written by the composer, takes place during the six years of Mary's return to Scotland as an 18-year-old widow of the King of France before she has to flee for her life to England. (All production photos are by Matthew Washburn.)

Baritone Thomas Mole sang well and was smoothly convincing as Mary's Protestant, illegitimate half-brother James Stewart who offers her loving counsel while while not so secretly seeking the Scottish crown for himself.

There are quite a few current and former Adler Fellows in the cast and they all acquit themselves well, especially tenor Thomas Kinch in a powerful, frightening performance as James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, the Catholic military man who in this telling brutally rapes Mary before becoming her third and final husband.

He also threatens her second husband, Lord Darnley from England, in a wonderfully weaselly performance by tenor Christopher Sokolowski. Instead of supporting the queen, he looks to gain power for himself and when Mary does not cede it, he becomes a dissipated mess.

Lord Darnley is also deceived by an Iago-like plot, and drunkenly murders Mary's devoted friend, David Riccio, handsomely sung by baritone Hadleigh Adams.

The indestructible bass-baritone Philip Skinner gives a powerful performance as Mary's only true supporter, Lord Gordon, and he is central to the final moments of the opera involving James, Mary's baby with the deceased Lord Darnley.

The musical score is in the sound world of Benjamin Britten, but very much Musgrave's own style, which is dramatic, spiky, and constantly surprising. Her setting of the English text is also remarkable, often making the supertitles superfluous. The orchestra sounded sensational under debuting conductor Clelia Cafiero, and the staging by director Stewart Laing felt like the antithesis of director Claus Guth's work in Simon Boccanegra. Mary's complicated political narrative with many conspiring characters was clear and compelling, although it took a while to adjust to the chorus garbed in Pacific Northwest puffer jackets hiking through a British Baking Show tent guarded by police stanchions.

Although the opera pretty much disappeared after its first five years of performances, this revival makes it clear that it deserves to have a long life. Key to the production's success is soprano Heidi Stober in the title role. I have heard Stober in multiple roles at the SF Opera, from Handel to Poulenc, but this was the greatest performance musically and dramatically that I have seen from her. She was victim, tyrant, mother, and politician from one scene to another, while being sympathetic as all of them, and I hope she gets to perform the role again. This revival makes it clear that the opera deserves to have a long life.