Bellini : NORMA Controversial Recording

[whipped guy]

Bellini: Norma - New Decca recording with Bartoli, Jo, Osborn, Pertisi - Antonini, cond.

Maria Callas was the supreme Norma of the Twentieth Century. She interpreted Norma in a manner that was more consistent with the traditions of Bel Canto than had hitherto been done in the Twentieth Century. She was followed by Joan Sutherland and Montserrat Caballe who completed the great triumvirate of Norma’s from the last century. They were the trailblazers but it is a new century and new directions are being explored so as to attempt to recreate the era of the opera’s composition… and the piece’s Rossinian pedigree.

Therefore this recording aspires to be the ultimate attempt to return us to the sound-world of a much earlier time and place and as such the critical edition by Maurizio Biondi and Riccardo Minasi as realized by conductor Giovanni Antonini will cause some eyebrows to be raised... In fact this recording represents such a shock factor that I can only accurately describe it by making an analogy. Imagine that you were only familiar with Handel's Water Music from the archaic and bloated Hamilton Harty transcription and were then suddenly faced with the lean and mean original instrument version as recorded by Nickolaus Harnoncourt and Concentus Musicus Wien!!!!! A shock factor indeed!!! Such is the impact of this recording!

First, not only are original instruments from Bellini's time employed, but the tempi chosen are much faster than on any previous recording of this piece. Attacks are also precise and often vicious in their approach... hammer blows of sound... no make that "colpi di canone"... explosive cannon shots of sound bolting throughout the orchestra.

In general the voices are much lighter than tradition would dictate... and again as based on the piece's Rossinian pedigree. All the singers chosen have a number of Rossini operas in their respective repertories. Cecilia Bartoli first broke into the scene as a Rossini mezzo and then graduated to a number of soprano roles over time. She approaches the part in a lighter yet dramatic manner and since she has a darker sound than her Adalgisa is able to sound more imposing and authoritarian as a result. Still if this were the good old days her Norma would have been blown right off the stage by the likes of mezzo Giulietta Simionato as Adalgisa. However, with lyric soprano Sumi Jo as the younger priestess the voices are in perfect proportion and blend mellifluously in their two extended duets. Tenor John Osborn has made a career of Rossini and Bel Canto roles and his lighter approach is in stark contrast to the likes of Franco Corelli and Mario Del Monaco both of whom often partnered Callas. Somehow a loud boisterous tenor works in the role, and can be considered a guilty pleasure, but they are emphatically not anything that Bellini would have recognized. Those used to a more hefty sound will think that Osborn’s pleasant lyric tenor voice sounds feeble in comparison, but that is part of the point of this recording... Bass Michele Pertusi has also made a career singing Rossini. However, while he does quite well he is less steady of voice at this late stage of his career... Basses on earlier recordings have given us a more buttery tone.

So we have a recording that attempts to transform us back in time. It is effective and informative in its own way. Any lover of the opera and/or Bel Canto must hear this recording if only for the many interesting vocal embellishments (not even Sutherland embroidered the second verse of “Casta diva”) and textual variations. Indeed, the trio that ends the first act is totally different from any recording or performance I have ever heard. I do recall seeing something similar to this alternative version in an old vocal score many years ago... and had almost forgotten that it existed. In addition the "Guerra" Chorus in the second act is quite different as well.

In summary, I feel that many of the interpretive decisions made on this recording were done for their shock factor as opposed to musical decisions. I am not totally convinced by some of the fast tempi... yet there is much to enjoy and the sound of the old instruments confirms that Bellini was a better orchestrator than he is given credit for.

I would never what to be without my Callas, Caballe, and Sutherland recordings of this opera and my overall desert island recording is the live 1955 La Scala recording with Callas, Simionato, and Del Monaco. There was nobody like Callas in the role of Norma and here she is at the absolute peak of her powers... the perfect balance of vocal perfection and dramatic insights. The performance might sound strange to 1831 ears... but it sounds vocally and dramatically convincing to these ears... With time perhaps the recording at hand will grow into my ears... and something tells me that with repeated hearing it just might do so!

Intriguing, fascinating, and thought provoking! Worthy of exploration…

[+ Charlie]

Bravo! What a review!!

 

It's always interesting to listen to an original version of a familiar opera that has been reinterpreted over the years, until the later version has become "traditional" and the older version has been forgotten. I remember what a shock I had the first time I heard Moussorgsky's "Boris Godunov" before Rimski-Korsakov got ahold of it.

[whipped guy]

Charlie... Coming from you... the dean of posters and a person for whom I have great respect... plus someone who indeed knows a thing or two about opera I am quite flattered. Actually, I enjoy writing reviews... and not just on things operatic... but on "other" subjects as well. Actually a few days prior to the release of the new recording of Norma I had one of my hottest escort experiences ever. However, the working guy and I both made the determination that it would be best not to publicize our activities... plus the guy did not need any additional stellar reviews. The Norma review was a partial response to my pent up frustrations... All I'll say is that the phrase "explosive cannon shots" would have been applicable to the squelched review as well...

 

Regarding the Rimsky vs. Mussorgsky Boris... it proves that composers really knew what they were doing... and even those whose orchestral techniques were considered lacking by the mainstream elitists as well. Think Schumann also... and interestingly Bizet was commissioned to re-orchestrate Norma, but gave up in frustration as he came to the conclusion that Bellini, in spite of his supposed shortcomings as an orchestrator, actually knew exactly what he was doing and really could not be improved upon.

[+ honcho]

Tinkering with schumann, specifically

 

at the risk of going off-thread, my community orchestra is going to do Schumann symphony #2 and *Mahler* had

thineed out some of the doublings; the conductor heard that version on the radio as he was driving around and

said he was so surprised (in a good way) that he nearly crashed his car.

 

Many of the hand-marked up parts apparently can be gotten from archives.nyphil.org, as Mahler did it around 1906

while conducting there . .

[whipped guy]

Bellini, like Schumann, was also known for his doublings... of which conductor Richard Bonynge said when discussing the score of I Puritani said something to the effect... "We should accept them as we do our mothers in law..." Kind of an "interesting" way to phrase things!!