Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835):
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| Norma | MARIA CALLAS |
| Pollione | FRANCO CORELLI |
| Adalgisa | CHRISTA LUDWIG |
| Oroveso | NICOLA ZACCARIA |
| Flavio | PIERO DE PALMA |
| Clotilde | EDDA VINCENZI |
Introduction
Maria Callas in her second EMI recording with Tullio Serafin of the career-defining role of Bellini's druid priestess. Franco Corelli is in characteristically heroic voice as Pollione and Christa Ludwig, rarely recorded in Italian opera, is a sensitive, silken Adalgisa.
Synopsis
The peak of achievement in the bel canto repertoire of the early 19th century, Norma presents a rarely surmounted challenge to prima donnas. After the floating moonlit delicacy of Norma’s opening prayer, ‘Casta diva’, the soprano must prove, in the trio that closes Act I, that hell has no fury like a woman scorned. At the opening of Act II, the work’s darkest moment, Norma even considers infanticide before moving on to compassion, forgiveness and ultimately – having overcome her desire for vengeance on her treacherous lover – literal self-sacrifice on a burning pyre. Her emotions are encompassed in declamatory recitative, in long, subtly decorated lyrical lines (Bellini was an inspiration to Chopin) and cascades of coloratura.
First performed in 1831 in Milan, Norma was written for the legendary soprano Giuditta Pasta. It is set in Gaul at the time of the Roman Empire. Norma, a druid priestess, has broken her vows of chastity, secretly giving birth to two children. Their father is the Roman proconsul Pollione, who now favours another, younger priestess, Adalgisa. For all her fury with Pollione, Norma shows great solidarity with Adalgisa, and the two scenes shared by the women are highlights of both the drama and the score.
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Compact Disc 1 63.20 1 Sinfonia 5.40 ACT ONE Scene Two
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Compact Disc 2 70.07 ACT TWO Scene Two Scene Three |
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