Musgrave: Mary, Queen of Scots (2-CD)

Composer: Thea Musgrave
Artists: Ashley Putnam, Jake Gardner, Jon Garrison, Barry Busse, Francesco Sorianello, Carlos Serrano, Virginia Opera Orchestra & Chorus
Conductor: Peter Mark
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Lyrita
CD Release Date: July 6, 2018

Thea Musgrave writes of her work Mary, Queen of Scots:

“Mary has been a fascinating subject to work with. It was interesting and challenging to find a path through all the well-known facts about her life, in order to be able to envision her with fresh eyes and gradually to shape my own portrait of her. My interest in her as a subject was first aroused by a basic idea of Amalia Elguera, (who had written the libretto for my previous opera, The Voice of Ariadne) and on whose play Moray the opera is based. [There] the emphasis lies, as the title implies, on Mary’s half brother, James Stewart. I soon decided that in the opera, although the chief protagonist would be James, the central character must be Mary herself.”

This recording is of a live performance on April 2, 1979 in Norfolk, Virginia, at the gala performance for the Metropolitan Opera. Lyrita is proud to present this re-issue of Mary, Queen of Scots to coincide with Thea Musgrave’s 90th birthday celebration.

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