Search - Scotto, Troyanos, Giacomini :: Bellini: Norma

Wonderful Norma

Scott Jelsey | Houston, TX United States | 03/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1979 Norma features Renata Scotto in one of her very best recordings. She is in gorgeous vocal estate, with much exquisite pianissimo singing above the stave. Surprisingly, Scotto is one of the few native Italians to essay this most difficult bel canto role, and she brings an innate understanding of the text and music. Her Adalgisa, Tatiana Troyanos is likewise in rapturous voice, blending beautifully with Scotto in their duets. Giacomini is a very baritonal tenor, in the Jon Vickers mold, who sings with great panache and vocal security in this fiendsihly difficult tenor role. He sounds very masculine, which fits the character perfectly. James Levine conducts a quite exciting performance, if possibly a bit more Verdian than Bellinian in style - a small quibble. The late analog recording sounds fine in its CD remastering, with the chorus and orchestra captured well, and balanced nicely with the soloists. A nice alternative to the Callas and Sutherland recordings..."

The second-greatest Norma after Callas!

The Cultural Observer | 04/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must pass my verdict on this recording. Earlier this year I said that I thought that Caballe's 1974 Norma with Vickers and Veasey was the second-greatest interpretation of the role after Callas' Norma. I obviously didn't see this one on the rack! Never before have I heard the duets sung in the original keys, plus the beautiful aria Casta Diva, sung to perfection in yet again the original keys, with such drama! Scotto may not have the frightening lower registers that Callas put in the middle of her voice (unhealthy for her cords, but extremely exciting!!!), but she gave this Norma a life that not even Sutherland, Caballe, Sills, Anderson, Cerquetti, or Gruberova could touch. Christine Goerke, another modern Norma, couldn't even come close with Scotto's interpretation! This Norma truly is a revelation! Norma is my favorite opera, and I'm usually EXTREMELY picky about the Normas that sing this role, and Scotto comes close to my ideal Norma as any diva ever could. She at least had a Norma with a soul! Thankfully! From her entrance recitativo, Sediziose voci, each word is carefully sung with detail that could never be sung by any other Norma after Callas. Her Casta Diva is heavenly, and her duets with Adalgisa are beautiful! Her Deh! Non volerli vittime touches me deeply, and I'm glad that she recorded this role. The Adalgisa in this recording Tatania Troyanos, sings with a tenderness that I have found only in Christa Ludwig's Adalgisa. Montserrat Caballe was simply too much of a soprano to sing the role. I thought her voice fit Adalgisa beautifully, and she does sound young! She sounds even better here than she did in the Met Norma with Sutherland. Giacomini sings Pollione with a fire I haven't heard since Vicker's reading of the role. Very impressive indeed. And then Paul Plishka, the baritone/bass who sings the role of Oroveso with grace and style...and what a voice! He does Sweeney Todd well too, might I add? James Levine, the definitive Metropolitan Opera conductor, gives this performance quite the fast reading for my taste, but then slimming the performance down to two CD's gives this Norma a very "LIVE" feel. He does conduct with excitement though, and he still gives this a much better reading that Bonynge's two studio Normas with his wife. Highly recommended!



I can't wait until Renée Fleming sings the role of Norma. To see her sing the role of the Druid Priestess along with Vesselina Kasarova would be such a treat! Patrick Summers would make such a great conductor for such a performance, and believe it would be a good idea to cast either Marcello Giordani or Ben Heppner as Pollione. Paul Plishka or Samuel Ramey would be fine choices for Orovesos. Since Renata Scotto loves to work with Renée Fleming, I think she would be a great help in preparing Renée for this very very demanding role (Lilli Lehmann herself said that she would rather have three Gotterdammerung Brunhilldes in one night rather than one Norma).

"

A Different Norma

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 11/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Renata Scotto first sang Norma at the Met, she was humiliated by raving Maria Callas fanatics. Even so, that did not stop her from singing in this studio recording under the baton of James Levine who championed her and the obscure tenor Giuseppe Giancomini and celebraeted mezzo Tatiana Troyanos. The real strength lies in the way that Scotto and Troyanos, with their musically resplendent voices blend together in duets and scenas. They truly understand the relationship between Norma and her rival Adalgisa. Too bad Placido Domingo wasn't contracted to sing Pellione opposite Renata Scotto. They tended to sound great and they had already worked together in studio recording for Tosca. Fans of Callas disliked Scotto because they claimed her technique was almost a replica of Callas' voice. This is not true. Scotto had a unique voice whose vibrato and dramatic phrasing was entirely her own, even if influenced by Callas. And besides, what singer hasn't listened to Callas and tried in some way to emulate her ? Renee Fleming claims to model herself after Callas (eventhough their voices are entirely different) mezzo soprano and later soprano Shirley Verrett was a huge admirer of Callas and attempted to copy her in some ways and in recent years the most Callas-like soprano is Angela Gheorghiu. This Norma is well-conducted by Levine who treats the score with brilliant technical masteship of bel canto as dramatic theater. He had previously recorded Norma in 1974 with Beverly Sills as Norma and Shirley Verrett as Adalgisa. If this recording saw the light of day, when will that one ever make it to the recording market ? I can't wait till Deutsche Grammophone releases it! Please please release it! Beverly Sills, like Scotto, was a different Norma, one Norma who had a more beautiful, feminine tone instead of the huge, overdramatic style that most sopranos sing. Norma, for all her stature, was a woman with the most basic human emotions - love, motherhood, jealousy, anger, hatred, etc. Ideally, a coloratura soprano with dramatic or spinto capability should sing her. Very few singers have come close to the ideal Norma but I can honestly say that Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballe, Renata Scotto and Bevely Sills are the closest to perfect Norma on recording and stage performance. If Leontyne Price had sung Norma, she would have also nailed the role. One review mentions Renee Fleming. NEVER! She sings "Casta Diva" in concert and in recording albums with beautiful tone and ravishing pianissimi but that's it. She doesn' have the je ne sai quais to essay all the other arias. Should Fleming sing Norma, it would ruin her voice and she knows it. It would be a performance closer to Beverly Sills' Norma for both Fleming and Sills possess light instruments. Fleming stays away from the dramatic roles because it would cut her career short. She will never sing Tosca, Turandot, Norma, or even Butterfly. Perhaps the closest to a dramatic role she has sung is the heroine in I Pirata the bel canto rarity."