Search - James Levine :: Bellini: Norma

Norma or Adalgisa ?

Michel | Montreal, Quebec | 06/08/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Renata Scotto was a fine artist but her intellectual curiosity and personal ambition made her tackle roles for which she was not really suited. Norma is one of them, despite her undeniable intelligence and musicianship she lacks the vocal amplitude to do the role full justice (the celebrated "Casta Diva" is rather dissapointing) and it is the more obvious next to the luscious and vibrant Adalgisa of the admirable Tatiana Troyanos. Giuseppe Giacommi (Pollione) and Paul Plishka (Oroveso) are solid performers but rather faceless. Chorus and orchestra are superb under James Levine's leadership and the sound excellent. At bargain price an interesting version.

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A GREAT NORMA, but Scotto not in best voice...

OperaLover | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 02/05/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Renata Scotto was a Bellini specialist and sang all the mature Bellini operas (with the exception of Beatrice di Tenda). Quite a few of these operas probably owe their popularity today to her fervent endorsement of such (then) rarities as Capuletti and Straniera. She was the first soprano since Bellini's time to sing Zaira in an important revival in Catania, Bellini's birthplace, in 1976. One can argue on and on as to whether Norma requires the vocal heft of the big Verdi roles that came much later in the 19th century with a fuller orchestra. However, in Bellini's time, he chose Guiditta Pasta to create the title role at its premiere. This is the same soprano that created the role of Amina in Sonnambula, which today is cast almost exclusively by leggiero (light) sopranos like Dessay, Sumi Jo, etc. There is this mistaken impression that Scotto did not have a success in Norma, which is absolutely untrue. It is true that she did not have a success on opening night at the Metropolitan Opera in 1981 and subsequent performances at the MET that season were irregular at best. [The annual Spring tour was another matter entirely. She garnered rave reviews and standing ovations.] Moreover, it is inconceivable that the Metropolitan Opera would give a coveted opening night to someone essentially vocally miscast in one of the most challenging roles of the entire soprano repertory. What could they have been thinking? What could Riccardo Muti have been thinking in Florence just a year or so before this recording (1979) when he cast her in a new production in Florence that was widely acclaimed? In fact Scotto had scored success after success in several Italian cities as well in in Vienna, Spain, Germany and in the United States in Cincinnati (where a wonderful broadcast exists), Houston (another broadcast) and Philadelphia. All of these performances are available to private collectors. The English magazine OPERA raved about her Norma in Spain, saying that she was the heir apparent to Callas at a time when Sutherland and Caballe were both singing Norma. As any collector of vocal music know, the great aria "Casta Diva" has been a showpiece for many of the great sopranos (including the lighter, coloratura sopranos like Galli-Curci). It has little to do with the challenges of the rest of the role. If one would argue that the "Casta Diva" on this recording, which is the weakest part of Scotto's portrayal, is the reason that she was not suited to Norma then one has only to listen to a dozen or so versions by coloraturas that could never dream of singing Norma or to Beverly Sills lovely performance on her complete set. Edita Gruberova, a soprano that started as an Oscar and Zerbinetta, has a much lighter voice than Scotto and has had success as Norma. More importantly she doesn't begin to have the sumptuous middle voice of Scotto. The fact is that most of the role lies directly in the middle voice. Most did not complain about Scotto's vocal weight when singing Butterfly, Suor Angelica, Otello, Luisa Miller, and so forth. Moreover, most of these roles had much larger orchestrations to cover the voice than Bellini's. The fact of the matter is that by 1979 Scotto was having vocal troubles that the close scrutiny of the microphone amplified as if under a microscope. For an artist clearly in some distress, Levine adopted a very strange performing version of Casta Diva that only exacerbated vocal unsteadiness in the upper middle and upper voice. Instead of rising individually to the A flats that are usually "pecked", in the second verse, he has her sustain a single A over the entire stanza. This might have worked for a Caballe, but it did not work for Scotto at the time of these sessions. In fact, the results are jarring when re-listing to so many other of her Normas where the "Casta Diva" was positively ravishing. More problematic, however, is the cabaletta following "Casta Diva" which is given complete including the repeat. This finds her lunging for the notes. Considering that Scotto was a great Lucia, Amina, Alaide, etc. (and again in comparison to the tapes of earlier, live performances), her coloratura should have been fleet and accurate. I wonder why Mme. Scotto and Maestro Levine didn't wait and have another go at it later, in in a few weeks or months, when she was in better voice. For me, Norma was an excellent role for her, especially on records, because the vocal color was dark and dramatic sounding. [This is in contrast to Sills whose voice was thinnest and least attractive in the middle voice.] Once past the "Casta Diva," however, she gives a vocally accurate and extraordinarily moving portrayal (esp.in "Dormano entrambi...teneri figli" and the whole final scene). Although the rest of the cast have healthy robust voices, they don't begin to have the unmatched word pointing and Bellini style of Scotto. Troyanos is in wonderful voice, but she does nothing with the text. Giocamini should have been an ideal Pollione but he rather blusters his way through in a Del Monaco like fashion -- loud, unsubtle but handsome. Plishka, too, sings well but nothing more. Levine, while improving on the brash, unsubtle conducting that characterized his earlier Norma recording with Sills, doesn't do anything special here either. [One is grateful at least that he keeps the ball rolling unlike Cillario on the Caballe RCA set.] What a shame that Gavazenni, who worked with Scotto so often in bel canto roles, was not selected instead of Levine. Levine was, I am sure, a bigger name, guaranteed to sell more records. [BTW, his conducting of the live Normas with Scotto, Troyanos and Domingo at the MET improved remarkably: he gave the singers much more breathing room and, strangely, he also included a fuller edition including the beautiful pastoral section after the "Guerra" chorus. This is available on both Bonynge performances. One usually hears more complete versions on record than in the theater.] So except for the "Casta Diva" and its cabaletta, this recording is a memorable momento of Scotto's Norma for so many of us that heard and saw her great successes in this role all over the world. For that reason I am giving four stars to this recording."