The opera is one of a number of operas by Donizetti which deal with the Tudor period in English history, including Anna Bolena (named for Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn), Roberto Devereux (named for a putative lover of Queen Elizabeth I of England) and Il castello di Kenilworth.

The lead female characters of the operas Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, and Roberto Devereux are often referred to as the "Three Donizetti Queens".

[1] After a series of problems surrounding its presentation in Naples after the final dress rehearsal – including having to be re-written for a totally different location, a different time period, and with Buondelmonte as its new title – Maria Stuarda as we know it today premiered on 30 December 1835 at La Scala in Milan.

[2] In a variety of areas – drama, literature (fiction or otherwise) – England in the Tudor era (and Scotland at the time of Mary Stuart and beyond in particular, Donizetti's own Lucia di Lammermoor being an example) exerted a fascination upon continental Europeans in an extraordinary way.

[8] Wanting a strong and powerful subject for his new work, the composer's idea was to have Romani prepare a libretto about Mary Stuart, but the librettist appears to have ignored him, perhaps because of his desire to get away from writing for the theatre, which he increasingly found to be distasteful.

[13] But it has also been simply noted by Professor Weatherson that "politics were the cause" in that reputed secret seditious behavior against Elizabeth I by Mary "made the decapitated monarch unpopular in Bourbon Naples".

He named it Buondelmonte referring to a character who appears in Dante's Paradiso "who apparently caused a war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines".

[1] In the end, the opening night performance was postponed due to Malibran's indisposition, but when it did occur on 30 December, it was clear that both lead role singers were in poor voice.

Realizing the difficulties of a run in Italy, a London première was planned, but Malibran's death at the age of 28 in 1836 cancelled the project.

Except for the several performances of the Buondelmonte version noted above, productions of Maria Stuarda were staged in Reggio Emilia and Modena (1837), in Ferrara and Malta (1839–40), in Florence, Ancona, Venice and Madrid (1840), Bologna (1841), Porto (1842), Granada, Málaga, and Barcelona plus Venice and Padua (1843), Lisbon (1844), and finally Pesaro (1844–45), all variously trimmed versions.

[1] It has been suggested that, with the exception of Venice and Naples, most of these locations "were of peripheral importance" and therefore the opera "never found its way to the stages of Vienna, Paris, or London", the Italian reception being a major requirement to launch an international success.

[24] The opera has been given in a variety of European and North American locations in recent times, which begin to increasingly establish it as part of the standard repertoire.

After the King of Naples banned the opera when it was in rehearsal, it became Buondelmonte with one or other of the queens (probably Elisabetta) turned into the tenor title-role and de Begnis singing a role called Bianca.

Malibran (who sang Norma but also Leonore and Cenerentola and had a range of G3-E6[30]) then decided that she wanted to sing Maria Stuarda, which she did until it was banned again.

As musicologist and Donizetti expert William Ashbrook notes, in many respects the musical structure of the opera is fairly straightforward and follows many of the conventions of the day.

One is the Leicester-Elizabeth duet (beginning with Leicester's Era d'amor l'immagine / "She was the picture of love") which appears before Maria's entrance and where Leicester pleads for Maria while Elizabeth's "ironic interjections provide a contrast of rhythmic emphasis and melodic pattern to the tenor's balanced lyric phrases".

In any sense, this dialogue is one of the most original and powerful passages that Donizetti ever composed"[34] or, as another critic puts it, "so that the outrageous text is heard in shocking relief.

And since that end is the focus of all interest, it is not surprising that the final act is musically as well as dramatically the culmination of the work, growing out of but eclipsing all that has gone before".

[11] With the delay between the cancelled performances in Naples and the premiere of Maria Stuarda in Milan almost a year and a half later, Donizetti was to replace the prelude with a full overture and added a new version of a duet between Elizabeth and Leicester using previously written music.

She considers the proposal, one which would create an alliance with France, but she is reluctant to give up her freedom and also pardon her cousin Mary Stuart, the former Queen of Scots, whom she has imprisoned because of various plots against her throne (Cavatina: Ahi!

The sounds of a royal hunt are heard and, hearing the hunters cry out that the Queen is close by, Mary expresses her disgust (Cabaletta: Nella pace del mesto reposo / "In the peace of my sad seclusion, she would afflict me with a new terror").

To her surprise, Leicester approaches and warns Mary of Elizabeth's imminent arrival, counseling her to behave humbly towards the Queen, who is then despondent (Duet: Da tutti abbandonata / "Forsaken by everyone… my heart knows no hope").

Elizabeth accuses Mary of having murdered her husband, Lord Darnley, as well as acts of treason and debauchery, all the while Leicester attempting to calm both sides.

Stung by Elizabeth's false accusations, Mary calls her the Figlia impura di Bolena ("Impure daughter of Boleyn")[37] and continues with the final insult: Profanato è il soglio inglese, vil bastarda, dal tuo piè!

Leicester pleads for mercy, Elizabeth rejects the plea, and Cecil urges her to remain firm (Trio Deh!

The confrontation ends with Elizabeth holding firm despite Leicester's accusations of cruelty; she orders him to witness Mary's execution.

Beside herself with grief, Mary imagines that the ghost of Lord Darnley is in the room with her, while Talbot offers comfort (Duet: Quando di luce rosea il giorno a me splendea / "While with the light of dawn my life still sparkled").

Scene 3: The courtyard at Fotheringay People gather at the site of the execution, lamenting that a queen's death will bring shame upon England.

When Cecil arrives to tell her that the time for her execution has come, he informs her that Elizabeth has granted her final wishes, including allowing Anna to accompany her to the scaffold.