Organization

Conductor

Maurizio Benini

Stage director

David McVicar

Set designer

Robert Jones

Costume designer

Moritz Junge

Lighting designer

Paule Constable

Choreographer

Leah Hausman

Singer

Soprano

Sonya Yoncheva

Norma

Ekaterina Gubanova

Adalgisa

Tenor

Michael Spyres

Pollione

Bass

Christian Van Horn

Oroveso

Brittany Olivia Logan

Clotilde

Yongzhao Yu

Flavio

Angela Meade

Jennifer Feinstein

The Metropolitan Opera

Italian

New York City

United States

Metropolitan Opera House

Norma Bellini

Public

English

Spanish

German

Approved

Watch a trailer for the Met's season-opening new production of Bellini's "Norma," featuring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, and Joseph Calleja. 2017–18 s...

Soprano Sonya Yoncheva adds another major heroine to her impressive list of Met roles, starring as the fearless title priestess of Bellini’s scorching bel canto drama. The extraordinary cast also features tenor Michael Spyres as Norma’s unfaithful Roman lover, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Norma’s protégé turned rival, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Norma’s warrior father out for blood. Maurizio Benini conducts David McVicar’s fiery production, which played to sold-out audiences when it premiered in 2017.

World premiere: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1831. This opera is an extraordinary fusion of sublime melody, vocal challenge, and dramatic power. It examines an ageless and archetypal situation: A powerful woman compromises her ideals for love, only to find herself betrayed by her lover. But equally gripping is her relationship with the younger woman who is the new object of her former lover’s attention and in whom Norma sees both a rival and a second self. The title role demands dramatic vocal power combined with the agility and technique of a coloratura singer. It is a daunting challenge that few can rise to: those who have are part of operatic lore.
 
Creators
Vincenzo Bellini (1801–35) was a Sicilian composer whose greatest gift was his extraordinary understanding of the human voice. His meteoric career was cut short by his death at the age of 33, shortly after his opera I Puritani triumphed in its Parisian premiere. Felice Romani (1788–1865) was the official librettist of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. A frequent collaborator of Bellini, he worked with the composer on six operas, and also wrote the libretti for Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and Anna Bolena, among many other works.
 
Setting
The opera is set in Gaul (France) at the beginning of its occupation by the Roman Empire. Almost all of the characters are druids, members of the Gallic priesthood, the only exceptions being the tenors, both of whom are Romans. It is interesting that the Roman Empire, long depicted in European culture as a civilizing force, is here seen as corrupt and exploitative.
 
Music
Norma is perhaps the archetypal bel canto opera, a style of singing that flourished in Italy in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Its principal features are beauty of tone, legato phrasing, and the delivery of florid ornamentation. The score of Norma is characterized by extraordinary melody punctuated by sharp moments of raw drama. The primary functions of the clear orchestral writing are to move the drama along with vigorous rhythm and to inform certain moments with feeling and emotion.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew