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The February offering will be Gaetano Donizetti's dramatic Maria Stuarda known here as Mary, Queen of Scots. It is a fictionalized account of the conflict between Elizabeth I of England, the daughter of Henry VIII, and Mary Stuart. Elizabeth will be played by the American mezzo-soprano, Kate Aldrich who has not only won several important vocal competitions but has also sung in Italy, Germany and Argentina as well as the US.

Mary will be portrayed by South African soprano Angela Gilbert who had an enormous success as the same composer's Lucia di Lammermoor at San Diego Opera in 2006.

She writes:
'Much of my interpretation of Mary really rests on the fact that she thought of herself as 'French.' That is important because even though she was Queen of Scotland, she was raised in France and displayed a great deal of joie de vivre, sometimes even hedonistic pleasure, in many aspects of her life. In the opera, we meet her during her last days on earth, which, needless to say, was an incredibly desperate and fragile time for her, but somehow her strong spirit still shines through.'

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