Bellini - Norma
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Movie Reviews of Bellini - Norma
Movie Review: too old
Summary: 4 Stars
I haven't heard this recording but I did hear Gruberova sing Norma with DiDonato on You Tube. There I thought Gruberova was not very good. Her voice is too old for the role and she hasn't the breath or power to do a good Norma. She was outsung by DiDonato without a doubt. Gruberova is 63. It may be time for her to let go and retire on her laurels from the past.Movie Review: thriumph for Gruberova!
Summary: 4 Stars
I would have given this DVD of Norma five stars, except for the fact that the production was bordering on "Euro-Trash"!!! The duets between Gruberova and Ganassi were worth the price of the DVD!Movie Review: A good try by great artist, BUT...
Summary: 3 Stars
I am going to take exception to virtually everyone here about this performance. I won't comment at all on the virtues or lack thereof of the production. This is all about Ms. Gruberova and, thus, the success of this production must predominantly rest on her shoulders. Kudos, by the way, to Sonia Ganassi, who is an exceptionally beautiful bel canto singer and actress who fully grasps the Italianita of the role of Adalgisa, originally written for a lighter soprano to contrast with Norma.
Bellini wrote Norma for a soprano "dramatica e de agilita" or a "dramatic soprano with agility." While Ms. Gruberova certainly has great agility, she is far from ideal as far as dramatic weight. I was lucky enough to attend one of her Norma's in Munich. As with the great Beverly Sills before her, Gruberova is essentially miscast. Norma must have a powerful MIDDLE voice -- a spinto of the likes of Callas, Ponselle, Caballe, and Sutherland. [Hearing this DVD with amplification and sound mastering is very different from the natural acoustics of the Bavarian State Theater.] Ms. Gruberova has enjoyed a long and varied career, carefully husbanding her resources as she has undertaken heavier roles like Norma, Anna Bolena, etc. It seems like just a few years ago that she was a delightful Oscar (Abbado DG) and Zerbinetta, roles for a leggiero (or light voice). While she manages, a la Sills, to sing (most) everything correctly, she does not have the essential power in the middle and lower registers to sing Norma as, I believe, Bellini intended. Her war cries of "Sangue," "Guerra" should amply fill the house, which they did not. As ever with Ms. Gruberova, she avoids pushing for a larger sound, so she has never developed the tremolo and excess wobble that forced Sills into an early retirement. But her success, then, is a success d'esteme, not by nature. Taking on heavier and heavier roles has not ravaged the voice to her credit, but she has not built up the middle and lower registers a la Sills and Scotto [at the expense of the top].
To sight an example of what kind of voice Norma is written for, Kirsten Flagstad was the ideal Norma for Edward Johnson, a former Metropolitan Opera singer himself and manager of the MET before Rudolf Bing. After Ponselle retired, Mr. Johnson felt Flagstad would be ideal. Flagstad had a natural trill and agility, a gorgeous middle voice, and, of course, power in spades. It was only at the final dress rehearsal that Flagstad decided to pull out of the role, to the dismay of Johnson and all admirers of the great Norwegian soprano.
In addition, I hear Gruberova's rendition of "Casta Diva" a bit differently as the others apparently do. [It has remarkably remained unchanged from her EMI recital from the early 1980's.] While the decorations interpolated on the line are spectacular and in great taste, she smudges many of "those little notes" -- as Birgit Nilsson said of the vocal hurdles of Norma. I do not hear any other inaccuracies, to her credit.
I will say that Ms. Gruberova makes a valiant try and succeeds in many ways. However, I find her to be an exceptionally stolid actress here. If you contrast Ganassi with Gruberova, Ganassi is animated and constantly reacts to the text in an appropriate way. Gruberova, by contrast, shows us none of the rage and fury of the character, not just by vocal means, but also by her acting. Sadly too, by correctly waiting until her "golden years" to undertake such a dramatic role, Ms. Gruberova's [now] matronly appearance is a sad liability. Close-ups are painful. In fact, it may be cruel to say, but this great diva often looks like Norma's mother, rather than a realistic and attractive rival to Adalgisa for Pollione's attention. This dramatic distraction is a fact that I cannot ignore, especially on this DVD with its many close-ups, rather than in a large theater like the Statsopera.
In summary, this performance is a fascinating adjunct to other performances. I will take it off the shelf often to enjoy its strength which certainly include Ms. Ganassi and the many interesting things Gruberova brings to the role. However, it is emphatically not a first choice. My first choice remains the spectacular open air Orange performance dating from the 1970's with Caballe's magnificent, heroic Norma, Josephine Veasy's idiomatic Adalgisa, and the fascinating Jon Vickers as Pollione under the direction of Giuseppe Patane [VAI]. For those who prefer Sutherland, there are several excellent versions of her Norma as well. For those of us who dream of a complete film of Callas' early Norma, we must wait in vain.
Movie Review: Should Have Been a Concert or Studio Recording
Summary: 3 Stars
This has been Norma Week for me, and in the course of watching all the videos and hearing several of the old recordings, I have finally encountered this Gruberova vehicle. I have followed Miss Gruberova's career for 25 years, and love everything she has done up to this point. Sadly, she waited too long to sing this role. I don't mean decades, I mean three or four years. She is clearly old enough to be grandmother to Pollione's children. Now there is nothing wrong with that. That she can still sing so well after such a long and distinguished career is wonderful. Many another Norma on video looks better but sounds nowhere near so good. In addition to her self-consciousness about her appearance, or perhaps because of it, she is clearly unhappy with everything around her. She throws her children's toys across the stage and stomps from here to there through most of the opera. But, then, so does everyone else. The love scene between Pollione and Adalgisa is beautifully sung, but so awkwardly enacted as to be painful. Clearly this Adalgisa knows already there is something dreadfully false about this Pollione, and there is no magic between them despite a kiss and smile at the end of the scene. But back to Gruberova. The other principals cannot save this opera when the leading lady is out of kilter. Rather than wading about in unflattering costumes through madhouse architecture, the poor singers would be better served to be dressed up in tuxedos and evening gowns and placed in front of microphones. Then they could let the drama speak through their music. The only drama in this production is in the music, and the production distracts from same. Or as an alternative, they could just go to the studio and remain invisible while singing their hearts out. Unfortunately there is relatively little studio recording of opera going on these days, and the usual way for a singer to leave a document of her interpretation is through a filmed stage performance. So this video is the only way to hear what Edita can do with Norma, and the result is impressive, despite the shockingly non-idiomatic conducting of Haider, who makes Bellini sound like Weber. The principal victim of all this is Ganassi, who liberated from this director, this conductor, this Norma and this Pollione would make an ideal Adalgisa on any stage.Movie Review: Very Good Singing, Very BAD production.
Summary: 3 Stars
I would not recommend this version of Norma. Though Gruberova is solid vocally,she plays the Druid priestess, in a very subdued manner which is acceptable considering her age and the vocal demands of the role. The other players are good but not spectacular and Haider's conducting is erratic.(Norma seems to be a problem for even the greatest conductors)
All this would make for a decent opera if the Jurgen Rose production wasn't so visually horrendous. First let me say I am a traditionalist and I believe music written hundreds of years ago doesn't fit with a modern setting, especially if the setting is thousands of years before the composer's time, as is the case here. The costumes are terrible. The Romans look like WWI Fusiliers. The Druids look like Arabs.They even have machine guns and ski masks. This doesn't work when the subject matter is the liberation of Gaul from Rome. Norma's children look like extras from a holocaust film, they are quite disturbing. To top it all off some things like the altar, mistletoe, woad, and spears(why they need spears when they have machine guns is beyond me) add an odd touch of authenticity.
The point is that the singing,while good enough for a recording, is overshadowed by the atrocious and amateurish production.