Vincenzo BELLINI (1801-1835)
Norma (1831) [168.56]
Pollione – Gregory Kunde (tenor)
Oroveso – Raymond Aceto (bass)
Norma – Sondra Radvanovsky (soprano)
Adalgisa – Ekaterina Gubanova (mezzo-soprano)
Clotilde –Ana Puche (soprano)
Flavio – Francisco Vas (tenor)
Production:
Original Stage Director – Kevin Newbury
Revival Stage Director – R.B. Schlather
Set Director – David Korins
Costume Design – Jessica Jahn
Lighting Design – D.M. Wood
Chorus master – Peter Burian
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu/Renato Palumbo
Video Director – Jean-Pierre Loisil
rec. live February 2015 Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
Filmed in High Definition – Mastered from a HD source
Picture format: 1080i – 16:9
Sound formats:
a) LPCM Stereo 2.0ch 48kHz/24 bit
b) DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1ch 48kHz
Subtitles in Italian (original language), German, English, French, Spanish,
Chinese, Korean, Japanese
C MAJOR 737304 Blu-ray [176 mins]
Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece Norma was
last staged at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona by Francisco Negrin
in 2007. Kevin Newbury’s original production of Norma
opened the 2014/15 season at San Francisco and here we have R.B. Schlather’s
revival from Liceu filmed in February 2015.
Recently at ROH, London, the attention-seeking imagination of directors
Àlex Ollé and Valentina Carrasco ran wild. Male lead Pollione, the Roman
Proconsul in Gaul, became a dictator of a fundamentalist Roman Catholic
order, who ordained women priests. There was an impressive cavern, full
of crucifixes and rituals that were suggestive of the Spanish Inquisition
and Ku Klux Klan. Traditionalists would be satisfied, I should think,
with this staging by Newbury/Schlather. It’s a pretty conventional
vision of Bellini’s tragic story of the human emotions love and
betrayal, complicated by religious conviction, set in Roman occupied
Gaul.
Incorporating sacred Druid symbolism, what dominates David Korins set
is the inside of a large wooden-walled space like a warehouse, serving
as maybe a hall, armoury or even a temple. Dominating the scene in the
rear wall is a large sliding door, which opens to reveal an outdoor
view of woods and falling snow flakes. A silver tree is suspended horizontally
from the roof, from which sacred mistletoe is gathered. There are two
carved bulls heads, positioned up high on wall columns, and a wooden
platform is wheeled in and out, from which druid leaders Oroveso and
Norma deliver their proclamations to their followers. In addition the
opportunity to display fire and flame is never far away.
Evidently inspired by the American fantasy drama television series ‘Game
of Thrones’, Jessica Jahn’s costumes look effective.
Roman official Pollione and his centurion Flavio are decked out in black
leather-look armour over red blouses and thigh boots. The Gaul men wear
brown leather, cloth and fur tunics, and the womenfolk have long petrol-blue
dresses with sleeves strangely attached at the shoulder. Of the women
only the high priestess Norma is permitted not to wear petrol-blue and
allowed to wear attractive long and flowing dresses, one coloured yellow,
and one in apricot. Most of the folk had a yellowy-green streak daubed
at the front of their hair and also tattoos including fearsome head
tattoos on several shaven headed men, including Oroveso.
Sondra Radvanovsky excels in the title role as a woman in total turmoil,
torn by the constraints of religion and forbidden love. How this fair-haired
high priestess, renowned for her chastity, still managed to carry two
children (to Pollione) unnoticed through pregnancy remains one of the
great mysteries of opera. Radvanovsky’s voice is strong and weighty
with a rapid vibrato that develops in appeal and focus as she settles
into the role. Her coloratura is effortlessly attractive, demonstrating
wide leaps to her top register which opens up stunningly. Her big aria,
the rightly celebrated Casta Diva (Chaste Goddess),
is ravishingly done and her duet with Adalgisa Mira, o Norma!
(See, Norma) is wonderfully rendered with copious amounts of
emotion. For his part of ‘love rat’ Pollione, Gregory Kunde
garnered significant critical praise in the press. Bellini and his librettist
certainly make it hard to provide much character to the role, which
mainly consists of mannish posing. Fair-haired and bearded Kunde certainly
looks the part in a swashbuckling way, and his voice certainly packs
a punch, cutting through the house with ease. From act one Pollione’s
aria Meco all' altar di Venere is sung with considerable
passion and stirring ornamentation, although, at times I wanted slightly
more fluidity and, in truth, a touch more style.
As the dark-haired Adalgisa, a temple virgin, Ekaterina Gubanova makes
a lot of her role that requires a lot of standing around. It’s
certainly an exciting performance and striking is how the big voiced
mezzo-soprano travels so fluently through her registers. The amount
of emotion she generates in her act one aria Sgombra è la sacra
selva is laudable. Formidable Archdruid Oroveso is played by bass
Raymond Aceto, who commands a considerable stage presence, displaying
a rich, sonorous tone, which transmits strongly. In the supporting roles
Ana Puche as Clotilde and Francisco Vas as Flavio do all that is asked
of them. Under the assured direction of Renato Palumbo, the Symphony
Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu sounds in excellent form with
what feels like ideal pacing. Revival director Schlather excels by providing
generally satisfying movement in an opera, noted for its often static
nature and lack of action. Impressive for its natural looking stage
activity, the chorus of Gauls is well drilled by Peter Burian.
My disappointment concerns the camera activity, which has pretty much
messed up two important episodes. Firstly, in the act two scene and
duet (timing 02.21.26/32) for a short time Pollione can be heard singing
but he’s not seen in shot. Worst of all, at the terrifying conclusion
when Norma enters the pyre with Pollione, he can be just seen at the
edge of the shot, in fact, I had to look twice to see if he was actually
there with her. Filmed in High Definition, the picture quality is excellent
and the two sound options are praiseworthy, too. The booklet has a track
listing, an essay but surprisingly no separate synopsis.
Marvellously sung and well acted there is a lot to enjoy in R.B. Schlather’s
winning revival of Kevin Newbury’s Norma; making it a
desirable addition to a collection.
Michael Cookson
