Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) was one of the most important composers of Italian bel canto operas. His tragic opera Norma was perhaps his most famous composition and it’s written in 1831, premiered at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala with an all-star cast - soprano Giuditta Pasta in the title role, soprano Giulia Grisi as Adalgisa, tenor Domenico Donzelli as Pollione, bass Vincenzo Negrini as Oroveso, conducted by Alessandro Rolla. Many sopranos have taken the title role and recorded it, however very few can manage this challenging role well.
Early (pre-1930) recordings of excerpts of Norma
In the early 20th century, there are a few recordings of excerpts of Norma, particularly Norma’s aria “Casta Diva” in the first act. One of the most important sopranos that recorded this aria was Adelina Patti, she was a bel canto super star in the 19th century. When Patti recorded “Casta Diva” in 1906 she was already past her prime (in her 60s) but one can imagine how she sounded in her best years and it’s an important document for those who are interested in the bel canto tradition of the 19th century. Probably due to her age, she transposed this aria a half tone down, but her diction was still very clear, you can write down all the words she was singing. Besides Patti, other great sopranos recorded “Casta Diva” in this period too, like Lilli Lehmann, Eugenia Burzio, Celestina Boninsegna, and later Rosa Raisa, Rosa Ponselle, Claudia Muzio, Iva Pacetti and many others. One very interesting thing is that no matter the fach of the soprano was (for example we have very light sopranos like Adelina Patti and very heavy sopranos like Rosa Ponselle), they all sang in the smooth, elegant, yet theatrical way and they all sang with super clear diction, you can understand every word they’re singing. Among them Eugenia Burzio, Claudia Muzio and Rosa Ponselle truly stood out, they both interpreted this aria in a very emotional way and you can not only recognise the words but also “feel” the words they’re singing. Besides Casta Diva, some sopranos also recorded other parts of Norma like “Qual cor tradisti” (Burzio recorded it in 1912 for ex.), “Deh non volerli vittime” (Tina Poli-Randaccio recorded it in 1923 for ex.), there were also some pre-1930 recordings of Pollione and Oroveso’s arias like Giacomo Lauri-Volpi’s “Meco all’altar di venere” in 1928 and Ezio Pinza’s “Ite sul colle” in 1927. These old recordings of operatic excerpts of the pre-1930 period are always worth listening to.
Pre-Callas Normas
In 1937 there are a couple of full opera recordings of Norma, both sung by soprano Gina Cigna and one is a studio recording conducted by Vittorio Gui, another is a live recording at the Metropolitan Opera conducted by Ettore Panizza. I’m generally a fan of old opera recordings, but I don’t recommend Cigna’s Norma. Cigna did not sing in the bel canto style, she sang in the same volume all the time and her voice was a lot stiffer than the sopranos before her, in both recordings one can hear that her agility was poor (though agility isn’t the first thing you have to look at as it’s more like a tool you have to have in order to sing the stuff that the composers wrote) and her interpretation was rather rough and monotonous - she added too many accents and lacked nuances. In 1944 there are also a couple of live Norma at the Metropolitan Opera but the title role was sung by Zinka Milanov, her voice was less stiff than Cigna but her agility isn’t better than Cigna’s, and her interpretation was rather academic - she didn’t quite get into the drama. Neither Cigna and Milanov can do the role justice.
Other “famous” Normas but not recommended (Sutherland, Caballé)
Before we go the the Norma of all Normas, let’s talk about some other sopranos in the role of Norma. Among them the most “famous” 2 are Joan Sutherland and Montserrat Caballé. Sutherland was certainly the worst world famous soprano born before ww2 - she lacked everything an opera singer needs from diction, low notes/chest voice, clarity/core, to emotions (did she ever feel emotions when singing???), interpretation, drama, passion and nuances. Sutherland’s singing is what Beethoven would call inexcusable - passionless, aloof, unemotional and indifferent. As we all know, opera was intending to revive the Ancient Greek drama/tragedy, and as Aristotle said, it’s an imitation (mimesis) of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude through pity and fear effecting the proper catharsis of these emotions. In order to achieve it, you must declaim the words clearly and loudly and express/vent your emotions in a very dramatic and outward way. And that’s also the essence of opera singing, operatic singers MUST express a wide range of emotions very clearly and outwardly, otherwise the audience won’t feel them also that’s against the essence of opera. And when you hear Sutherland’s singing, it’s exactly the opposite of the essence of what opera is, instead of express emotions, she controlled, repressed, reserved them, even in the very beginning of her career when she was in 20s she was already like that. She never sang with feelings plus her super unclear diction and her technique is very different from other old sopranos (lack of chest voice/core/clarity), her Norma is the worst among the famous old ones and her singing is basically un-operatic. Even though I’m not a really big fan of Caballé’s singing either, but to be fair, in general Caballé was still much better than Sutherland in every way, her diction was much clearer, her low notes weren’t weak/hoarse and she could feel some emotions (although what she did is very far from enough). Caballé’s Norma was still not dramatic enough, she could express some kind of sorrow (although not deeply enough) but she was certainly not fierce enough for this role, plus her “Casta Diva” also sounded kinda distant and there are traces of restrained emotional catharsis (though not nearly as aloof and emotionless as Sutherland’s). I recommend neither Caballé’s nor Sutherland’s Norma as they both not dramatic, passionate and fiery enough.
Some less famous Normas but interesting to listen to (Souliotis, Papantoniou, Gencer) and non-belcantistic approach of Norma (Pedrini, Stella, Cerquetti)
There are a few sopranos that were better than Sutherland and Caballé as Norma but less famous. Firstly, there are 2 Greek sopranos that sang this role quite convincingly, namely Elena Souliotis and Vasso Papantoniou. They sang in a more dramatic, passionate and theatrical way than Sutherland and Caballé, they expressed emotions, they had clear diction, and they had great low register/chest voice which are all necessary for opera singing. Especially Papantoniou, I’m actually quite astonished by her emotionally profound interpretation and it’s quite obvious that she was heavily influenced by Callas’ singing (despite having a rather smaller sized voice), Souliotis on the other hand wasn’t as nuanced and as tragic/emotional as Papantoniou but still really good. Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer was also very interesting as she was emotionally available and her technique was really good, although she is not as refined (in terms of nuances as she often sang quite roughly at times) as Papantoniou and Souliotis. In the 1950s, there were also some non bel canto sopranos took the role of Norma, like Maria Pedrini, Antonietta Stella and Anita Cerquetti, they all had very good diction and low notes/chest voice, but their interpretations were not really nuanced (a bit like Milanov but Milanov’s legato was better than all these 3) and certainly not in the 19th century bel canto style.
The Norma of all Normas - Maria Callas
Now let’s talk about the Norma of all Normas - Maria Callas, the most theatric and the most operatic opera singer. Her diction was the clearest (you can even know what word she was singing without checking on the libretto), her technique was the pinnacle (thanks to her teacher, the bel canto master Elvira de Hidalgo), her singing perfectly resembled what Aristotle described Greek tragedy (the catharsis of emotions), and she basically turned herself into Norma when she sang it. In Bellini’s Norma, Callas expressed the widest range of dynamics/emotions, she felt and maximised the drama and she always had a super strong and clear idea of her interpretation. I particularly love how she went from the super dolce, expressive “Casta Diva” to the fierce “Oh di qual sei tu vittima”, no other sopranos can express the jealousy and anger in the final part of the first act as Callas did, it’s always fascinating to hear how she built the tension from ”O non tremare” to the end of act 1, in this part, she was dominating the stage. She also expressed the deepest melancholy in the second act, and that’s a lot more profound than other sopranos, the last 12 minutes (started from “Qual cor tradisti”) can break everyone’s heart. From the technique perspective, Callas was also the best, as she mentioned in masterclass, “in bel canto it’s necessary to have the chest voice/low notes”, and her mid and high notes ran through the opera house like lightening, plus she was also able to sing those coloratura passages and trills Bellini wrote, her dynamics from pianissimo to fortissimo were all very solid sounding and never lost the core of the voice. I also noticed that instead of strictly follow the rhythm of the score, she liked to do rubato quite a lot, like the sopranos in the pre-1930 era, especially in the more lyrical, sections with long Bellinian melodic lines like “Casta Diva” and the 2 duets with Adalgisa, rubato is a part of the old school bel canto tradition, it makes the music sound more flexible. Also the way she emphasised the more important notes of a melody is really stunning, you can hear the intensity of those notes as well as feel the meaning behind them, as she said every note exists for a reason. Besides that, she also used diction to express emotions, for example, sometimes she will exaggerate some words when it comes to more dramatic or intense or exciting parts (as far as it wouldn't break the legato). When you hear Callas, what you hear is not just the notes, but also the words and the meaning behind the written score. Many critics compared Callas to the original Norma, Giuditta Pasta, as they were both dramatic sopranos with exceptional range, technique, dynamic intensity and agility, although we don’t know exactly how Pasta sounded like, but we have Callas’ recordings and she is definitely the closest we can get.
Recording recommendations
Besides the pre-1930 recordings of excerpts of Norma, I just recommend Callas’ recordings, because she is the complete package, and trust me, you will lose interest in hearing others’ complete Norma because Callas is too great. Callas’ recordings of Norma are between 1949 and 1965, and each one of them is a must-have. About the abridgement of older full opera recordings, I think it’s okay as long as the dramatically crucial parts (i.e. the parts that play a key role in the development of the storyline) are not abridged.
Each of Callas' recording of Norma is an artistic masterpiece, you can find all these recordings on either YouTube or Spotify:
1949 studio recording of “Casta Diva” and the performances in Argentina. Though not complete, but definitely worth listening to, as these are some of Callas’ earliest recordings, in this period she was singing very diverse roles such as Wagner’s Isolde, Brünnhilde, Puccini’s Turandot, Ponchielli’s La Gioconda as well as Bellini’s Norma and Elvira in I Puritani. It’s unbelievable that such a rich, heavy dramatic soprano voice could sing those coloratura passages with great ease and with such a wide range of dynamics. The studio Casta Diva was conducted by Arturo Basile, his conducting here was pretty good, but Tullio Serafin conducted Norma in a more intensive and more nuanced way (in fact, in all his recordings of Norma with Callas). In the Argentinian performances with Serafin conducting, the role of Adalgisa was sung by mezzo-soprano Fedora Barbieri, who had a really powerful voice but musically too direct and not very nuanced for this role, she did not sing in the traditional bel canto style as Callas did and she did not have good legato; Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (who introduced Callas to Serafin and the impresario and former tenor Giovanni Zenatello 2 years before)’s Oroveso was fine.
1950 performance in Mexico City. It’s the first complete Norma with Callas. Each recording of her performances in Mexico City is a legend, her greatness is beyond words. But the cast of this Norma was rather unbalanced - the biggest problem would be Kurt Baum (Pollione), he forgot the music and lyrics in the opening aria and later barked all the way to the end; Giulietta Simionato (Adalgisa) was better than Barbieri because her legato was better, her voice was more flexible and as a mezzo-soprano she had really good high register as well as low register/chest voice, though she sang this role better 5 years later; Nicola Moscona (Oroveso) sounded quite tired here, and the conductor Guido Picco was very mediocre, his sense of rhythmic pulse was very poor, his tempi were slow and boring and his conducting style was always very monotonous. Despite the flaws, this is one of my very top favourite recordings of Norma because of Callas’ Norma, the sections with long Bellinian melodic lines were breathtaking, the duets with Simionato here could be the closest to Giuditta Pasta-Giulia Grisi in the premiere among all recorded versions, and the final 12 minutes just showed how a soprano can sing in pianissimo yet be so intimidatingly dramatic. Callas before her weight loss had an enormous, thunderous voice, it’s literally a wall of sound, in the duet with Pollione (“In mia man alfin tu sei”) she showed her tenor-like low register.
1952 performance at the Covent Garden. It’s interesting that Callas didn’t sing as fiercely as in 1950, 1953 or 1955, but more lyrical. Again, every single Norma with Callas is a must-have and I can’t recommend listening to them more highly. Ebe Stignani (Adalgisa) was one of the most notable interpreters of this role (she recorded it with Cigna 15 years ago and was the brightest star at that recording), she had very solid technique and great understanding of the character, together with Simionato they are my 2 favourites; Mirto Picchi (Pollione) was not the most powerful tenor in his time and his interpretation in this role wasn’t quite convincing as it could have more nobility and arrogance, but at least he was far more professional than the barky Kurt Baum; Giacomo Vaghi (Oroveso) was an under-appreciated bass, he sounded very lyrical and in the second act aria (Ah del tebro) his legato was awesome; unfortunately, Vittorio Gui’s conducting was quite boring here as he chose very slow tempi and in the orchestral part it’s dramatically too reserved. p.s. Joan Sutherland was singing a very small role of Clotilde here, and in the scenes with Norma and Clotilde you can immediately hear the difference of great technique and poor technique (both in their late 20s).
1953 performance in Trieste. Despite being incomplete (only 100 minutes of this performance were recorded), it’s a recording of century. This is an all-star cast, one particular thing about it is this performance was conducted by the virtuoso-pianist-turned-conductor, Antonino Votto, he was a powerhouse, his conducting was pure fire and his tempi here were even more exciting than Tullio Serafin’s; Callas in this performance was certainly more fierce than in 1952, you can feel that every note she sang hits right in front of you and immediately get the feeling of each word she tried to convey; Elena Nicolai (Adalgisa) had a big dramatic voice but her style was a lot rougher than Simionato and Stignani, it’s a similar effect as Barbieri singing Adalgisa; Franco Corelli (Pollione) in one of his earliest (and one of his best) recordings sounded very fresh and heroic, he had a very nuanced interpretation of this role, he showed his emotions very outwardly in the second act; Boris Christoff (Oroveso) is my favourite bass for this role, his solemn yet melancholic voice is just ideal for the character and he was known for his nuances and voice acting too. Every time I listen to this I keep asking a question: “How could they get such a cast?”
1954 studio recording. Callas recorded the entire opera in studio twice, both with Tullio Serafin, and this is the first one. If I have to recommend a reference complete recording of Norma, then this will be the answer. We have Callas, Stignani, Rossi-Lemeni and Serafin at their best here, but also Mario Filippeschi in the role of Pollione. Filippeschi is my favourite for this role because he was one of the last bel canto singers, he was a great technician as well as interpreter, he sang with great legato, extreme ease at the top register and feelings, he was the tenor that captured Pollione’s noble and arrogant personality the best. Although Callas was in great form here and sang extremely expressively, but I always feel like a big voiced soprano like her would have disadvantages in recording studio, she was not a microphone singer at all, and in the live recordings you can hear the richness and fullness of her voice, plus her diction is something that even in the biggest opera houses it would still sound crystal clear.
1955 performances in Rome and Milan. In Rome it’s conducted by Serafin and in Milan it’s conducted by Votto, both very nuanced, intense and exciting. Callas even after her weight loss was still very powerful and like the 1953 performance, she put all her emotions into it. I particularly love the way she sang “O non tremare” in the La Scala performance with even more nuances and rubato than before; Adalgisa in the Rome performance was sung by Stignani and in Milan Simionato, both very competent and technically solid (Stignani was in her 50s of age in the Rome performance), and the La Scala performance was Simionato’s best (legendary) Adalgisa; Mario del Monaco was the Pollione of both performances, he had a super vibrant, sharp and forceful voice, and he certainly got the arrogant part of the character, but emotionally he wasn’t very nuanced and he did not sing in the traditional bel canto way as he added too many accents and his legato was poor; Oroveso was sung by Giuseppe Modesti in Rome and Nicola Zaccaria in Milan, both fine. Overall speaking, I find both recordings equally exciting as these were both historical events.
1957 “Casta Diva” video with Gabriele Santini conducting. One of the few videos of Callas, and certainly one of her very best recordings of “Casta Diva”. Besides her perfect singing, it’s also fascinating to see her facial expressions, and at such a close distance. It’s certainly better than another video recording one year later - as the chorus didn’t make mistakes in the middle of the aria.
1958 Rome walkout performance. Even if Callas didn’t like her singing that day and wasn’t in her best form but the “Casta Diva” was certainly one of the most moving interpretations ever. I don’t hear anything wrong with her in this recording. I feel very sorry for Callas who didn’t get the respect she deserved, and shame on those idiotic and ignorant audiences who shouted "you cost us a million, Callas”, "Tebaldi, where are you?”… etc. before and during the cabaletta, they ruined the opera and they ruined the art. The other singers - Miriam Pirazzini (Adalgisa), Franco Corelli (Pollione), Giulio Neri (Oroveso) and the conductor Gabriele Santini were all outstanding. p.s. there’s a recording of Renata Tebaldi’s “Casta Diva”…… I mean, how can you prefer that cold, clumsy, emotionless, academic singer over Callas???
1958 “Casta Diva” video in Paris Opera with Georges Sébastian conducting. In 1957 she didn’t sing the cabaletta (“Ah bello a me ritorna”) but this time she did. The only problem of this recording is the chorus which made mistakes during the middle section of “Casta Diva” and I love how Callas made a hand sign when she began to sing in the next bar, and then the chorus was immediately back on track. Besides that, her acting and facial expressions in this video were better than in the 1957 version, especially in the orchestral introduction, the way she moves was even more elegant and artistic than the ballet dancers like Maya Plisetskaya. And of course the impeccable singing, some other singers might act very expressively but when you close eyes and listen to them, you feel nothing, which is not in the case of Callas, even if you close your eyes and listen to this recording, you will immediately get into the music and the drama.
1960 studio recording. Again, it’s conducted by Serafin but this time with a different cast - Franco Corelli as Pollione, Christa Ludwig as Adalgisa and Nicola Zaccaria as Oroveso. Callas was still the Norma of all Normas even after her prime, in fact it’s Callas in this particular recording that made me fall in love with operas, I didn’t know opera can be this expressive and opera singers can sound this great before; for Ludwig’s Adalgisa, her style and technique were certainly very different from other singers here as she didn’t sing in an Italianate way as the others, she wasn’t a bel canto singer and she didn’t really get into this character like Stignani or Simionato; Corelli in the height of his career (in the same year he sang the La Scala Poliuto with Callas) was charismatic and became super emotional in the second act just like the 1953 performance but the voice sounded more mature, although Filippeschi’s characterisation of this role is better than Corelli as Corelli didn’t sound quite arrogant and heartbreaker-like in the first act; Zaccaria wasn’t as exciting and nuanced as 5 years before. This is Serafin’s last super-achievement in life, and certainly the last spectacularly exciting complete recording of Norma in history.
1964 rehearsal video of the recitativo before “Casta Diva” in Paris. Her voice was in great form and it’s always a pleasure to listen to her while watching her moving on stage. Pity it’s only 2 minutes and doesn’t contain the aria.
The performances in 1965 at the Paris Opera conducted by Georges Prêtre (not complete). It was the last year she sang on operatic stage, and even if she wasn’t at her best vocally, her vowels were still the clearest and she always interpreted this role in the best possible way. The cast was overall good, some of the performances Adalgisa was sung by Giulietta Simionato who had the elegance that Fiorenza Cossotto in other performances didn’t have; Gianfranco Cecchele (Pollione) as a young tenor resembled del Monaco in 1955 a little bit, Ivo Vinco (Oroveso) was very monotonous in both his arias, and Georges Prêtre as my favourite conductor of the French repertoire was equally great in Norma too (he also conducted Callas’ studio recordings of Carmen and Tosca in 1964). None of the performances were completely recorded but it’s amazing to hear how Callas even in bad voice condition sang this role with absolute courage and emotionality.
It’s such an unbelievable thing that an opera singer can give people such a strong impression that you will never forget it and when you listen to her recordings even more you will eventually lost interest in other sopranos in the role of Norma, that’s because Callas had an exceptionally clear, strong idea of the music and drama. I even dare to say everyone will become opera lover after hearing Callas’ Norma, it’s the highest form of operatic/dramatic singing, and the greatest form of art.
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