Bellini's 1831 masterpiece—featuring a first-act aria (in which the heroine prays to the moon) that is virtually a summation of bel canto style—centers on the love of the titular Druid high priestess for the Roman proconsul Pollione, with whom she has two sons. Love turns to hatred, however, when she discovers that Pollione has taken up with Adalgisa, another priestess, and out of jealousy she incites a war with the Romans that (spoiler alert!) leads to their death together on a funeral pyre. This 2015 production from Barcelona's Gran Teatro del Liceu is notable for Sondra Radvanovsky, who brings a ravishing tone to the role of Norma, especially in her duets with Adalgisa, sung in similarly lovely voice by Ekaterina Gubanova. Pollione is played by American tenor Gregory Kunde, who provides both amplitude and nuance, while nicely partnering with Radvanovsky and Gubanova. The staging by Kevin Newbury is unfortunately rather bland, with a single pedestrian set and unremarkable costuming—delivering an overall sense of ennui that also seems to affect the conducting of Renato Palumbo, resulting in tempi that seem fractionally too slow for comfort. Still, this Norma features considerable vocal and orchestral beauty, which is after all the essence of bel canto. Presented in DTS 5.1 (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray release) and PCM stereo, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)
Norma
(2015) 176 min. In Italian w/English subtitles. DVD: 2 discs, $39.99; Blu-ray: $34.99. C Major (dist. by Naxos of America). Volume 32, Issue 2
Norma
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