Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) wrote three operas based on the lives of English Queens: Anna Bolena (1830), Maria Stuarda (1834), and Roberto Devereux (1837). None of them stick very close to history; each is treated in such a way as to heighten, exaggerate, or simply invent scenes and situations that might have taken place during the lives of these three fascinating monarchs. Maria Stuarda’s dramatic punch, particularly when the two starring women are front and center, is unique: rivalry is always the stuff of great drama, but rivalry between monarchs is, by definition, on an entirely different — and much higher — level.