Marie Stuart (opera)

Marie Stuart
Grand opera by Louis Niedermeyer
"Les adieux de Marie Stuart", an aria from Act 1
Librettist	Théodor Anne
Language	French
Premiere	6 March 1844 (1844-03-06) Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, Paris

Marie Stuart is a grand opera in five acts composed by Louis Niedermeyer to a libretto by Théodor Anne loosely based on events in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. It premiered at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 6 December 1844 with Rosine Stoltz in the title role.

Marie Stuart was Niedermeyer's fourth opera and his second foray into the grand opera genre. Although some sources, e.g. Garo (2011), have written that the libretto is based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play, Mary Stuart, this provenance does not appear in the libretto published in 1845 or the synopsis published in 1844, and the opera is quite different from the play. Schiller's play depicts only the last two days in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots while the opera spans the period from 1561 to 1587 with the setting moving from France to Scotland and finally to England. Niedermeyer composed the score in less than a year, and the work premiered on 6 December 1844 at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique with King Louis Philippe in attendance. The production was designed by Philastre and Cambon and directed by Jean Coralli who also choreographed the ballet divertissement for Act 3. The ballet, starring Adèle Dumilâtre, was presented as a performance attended by Mary Stuart at her palace. Like many such ballets in the golden age of grand opera, it also served a dramatic function within the opera itself. Its theme, the triumph of Esther over the fallen queen Vashti, echoes Mary Stuart's hopes that she would triumph over Queen Elizabeth.