Norma is for me Bellini's best opera. The story is not the best of all opera plots, but it is touching and the most believable of Bellini's operas. The music as always with Bellini is sublime and full of his distinctive style. While Norma has some fine recordings to do it justice, it is somewhat of a mixed bag on DVD. While the later Sutherland and June Anderson productions are good(though the Anderson one has a terrible Pollione) and the earlier Sutherland(helped by the best Adalgisa on DVD) and Edita Gruberova ones decent, the Orange production with Caballe and Vickers is the only outstanding production. Hasmik Papian's and Daniela Dessi's just reach average standard, but I found both Dimitra Theodossiou's productions disappointing. If I were to be asked which was better, I can't really say overall, because there were assets that were better done in either production.
Of course the production is not without good things. Daniela Barcellona was a truly excellent Adalgisa. She always did have a generous and warm mezzo sound, and they are to be found here with no signs of fatigue. She's also a commanding actress and captures the warmth and complexities of the role better than the Adalgisa in Theodossiou's earlier DVD production. The orchestra play beautifully, there's enough style and depth to be heard, while the chorus' singing is appropriately vibrant. I did love how sensitively the women accompanied Theodossiou in Casta Diva. The conducting captures the drama well but doesn't forget about being sympathetic towards his performers. Dimitra Theodossiou's Norma is not perfect, with moments of strident phrasing and too much chesty tone, which can make a rather harsh sound sometimes. However, she is good in the role. She is a very committed actress, shows some lovely soft singing, her passage work keeps getting better and she has smooth legato and breath control. And she does have a good voice, not always beautiful but intelligently shaped and the right size for Norma.
Theodossiou and Barcellona blend very well together, much better than in the former's production from two or three years earlier. Mira O Norma is magical. Maybe Theodossiou was in slightly better voice in her earlier DVD but the same pros and cons for her performances are the same for her on both.
Unfortunately, for the good things that is pretty much it. Oroveso is performed better in the earlier production. There his was the most consistent performance. Here while not the worst, it was a disappointment. Simon Orfila's singing has always been solid enough but never enough to wow me over. Oroveso is not the most interesting role in Norma, aside from Norma that's Adalgisa, but Orfila doesn't ever do anything with it. He is not authoritative enough, and vocally his basic sound is rather dry and unsteady. He is at least better than Carlo Ventre, who just like two years earlier was really poor in the role. He shows no acting skills whatsoever, and while his voice has a large sound that is all it is(and it is always very one note), at no point does he attempt to soften or inject some colour to the voice. He and Theodossiou have no chemistry whatsoever.
Visually, while not as distasteful as Papian's or Theodossiou's earlier performance there is nothing really that leaps out as striking or memorable. The sets are drab and offer no variety. The costumes are a little better than the earlier production, those are ones you'll never forget for all the wrong reasons, but the colours are not well-suited for the opera I don't think, the Druids look more like Romans(to the extent that you don't know who is who) and it was disconcerting to see that you could see people's breasts hanging out. Theodossiou's make up was rather overdone and made her to look like a villainess. And in all honesty the production lost me on the swastikas symbolism. The stage direction throughout is undistinguished, meaning that the performers were left on their own. Bad move, considering that Theodossiou and Barcellona are the only ones who properly act on stage.
Technically, I wish I can say it was an improvement over everything else in the production but it isn't really. The sound sounds dead so while most of it is sung and played beautifully and the music amazing it all lacks resonance because of the sound. And sadly, this is the Norma DVD with the single worst video directing, it is very dizzying and never settles down. The mix of close-ups, wide shots, mid shots(and weirdly above shots) could have been good but not when it was constantly switching from one type of shot to another, which was the case here. In conclusion, has some good things but between Theodossiou's two DVDs this is little improvement to the earlier one.
4/10 Bethany Cox
Of course the production is not without good things. Daniela Barcellona was a truly excellent Adalgisa. She always did have a generous and warm mezzo sound, and they are to be found here with no signs of fatigue. She's also a commanding actress and captures the warmth and complexities of the role better than the Adalgisa in Theodossiou's earlier DVD production. The orchestra play beautifully, there's enough style and depth to be heard, while the chorus' singing is appropriately vibrant. I did love how sensitively the women accompanied Theodossiou in Casta Diva. The conducting captures the drama well but doesn't forget about being sympathetic towards his performers. Dimitra Theodossiou's Norma is not perfect, with moments of strident phrasing and too much chesty tone, which can make a rather harsh sound sometimes. However, she is good in the role. She is a very committed actress, shows some lovely soft singing, her passage work keeps getting better and she has smooth legato and breath control. And she does have a good voice, not always beautiful but intelligently shaped and the right size for Norma.
Theodossiou and Barcellona blend very well together, much better than in the former's production from two or three years earlier. Mira O Norma is magical. Maybe Theodossiou was in slightly better voice in her earlier DVD but the same pros and cons for her performances are the same for her on both.
Unfortunately, for the good things that is pretty much it. Oroveso is performed better in the earlier production. There his was the most consistent performance. Here while not the worst, it was a disappointment. Simon Orfila's singing has always been solid enough but never enough to wow me over. Oroveso is not the most interesting role in Norma, aside from Norma that's Adalgisa, but Orfila doesn't ever do anything with it. He is not authoritative enough, and vocally his basic sound is rather dry and unsteady. He is at least better than Carlo Ventre, who just like two years earlier was really poor in the role. He shows no acting skills whatsoever, and while his voice has a large sound that is all it is(and it is always very one note), at no point does he attempt to soften or inject some colour to the voice. He and Theodossiou have no chemistry whatsoever.
Visually, while not as distasteful as Papian's or Theodossiou's earlier performance there is nothing really that leaps out as striking or memorable. The sets are drab and offer no variety. The costumes are a little better than the earlier production, those are ones you'll never forget for all the wrong reasons, but the colours are not well-suited for the opera I don't think, the Druids look more like Romans(to the extent that you don't know who is who) and it was disconcerting to see that you could see people's breasts hanging out. Theodossiou's make up was rather overdone and made her to look like a villainess. And in all honesty the production lost me on the swastikas symbolism. The stage direction throughout is undistinguished, meaning that the performers were left on their own. Bad move, considering that Theodossiou and Barcellona are the only ones who properly act on stage.
Technically, I wish I can say it was an improvement over everything else in the production but it isn't really. The sound sounds dead so while most of it is sung and played beautifully and the music amazing it all lacks resonance because of the sound. And sadly, this is the Norma DVD with the single worst video directing, it is very dizzying and never settles down. The mix of close-ups, wide shots, mid shots(and weirdly above shots) could have been good but not when it was constantly switching from one type of shot to another, which was the case here. In conclusion, has some good things but between Theodossiou's two DVDs this is little improvement to the earlier one.
4/10 Bethany Cox
