Joyce DiDonato's performance in the title role of Mary,Queen of Scots, "will be pointed to as a model of singing," full of "plush richness and aching beauty," in David McVicar's Met premiere production. Elza van den Heever is "a vocally burnished and emotionally tempestuous" Elizabeth (New York Times). "A luminous performance" (AP). Matthew Polenzani sings Leicester and Maurizio Benini conducts.