# Bellini Operas: How many do you own? Your favorites?



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

According to the Rough Guide to Opera, Vincenzo Bellini wrote 10 operas.

What ones do you own?

What ones are your favorites?

Here are the 10 according to Wikipedia:

Adelson e Salvini
Beatrice di Tenda
Bianca e Fernando
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Norma
Il pirata
I puritani
La sonnambula
La straniera
Zaira

I have 7 of these, but am only familiar with a few: Beatrice di Tenda, La Sonnambula, and I Puritani. What I don't have is Norma, La Straniera, and Pirata.

Of these La Sonnambula is my very favorite--seven different sets on CD!. The rest I only have one each but for two sets of Puritani. My Sonnambulas include 3 with Maria Callas, and one each of Mariella Devia, Natalie Dessay (current favorite), Eva Lind, and Luba Orgonasova (NAXOS set).

This thread was inspired by Don Fatale's thread, _Your top 10 favourite Donizetti operas, in order_!, except that when I googled for Bellini operas I discovered he only has 10, so I could not exactly have a title similar to Don's. :lol:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Florestan said:


> According to the Rough Guide to Opera, Vincenzo Bellini wrote 10 operas.
> 
> What ones do you own?
> 
> ...


Have them all

I've marked my favourites in red:
Adelson e Salvini
Beatrice di Tenda
Bianca e Fernando
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Norma
Il pirata
I puritani
La sonnambula
La straniera
Zaira


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Well, I own all of them.

My 3 favourites are _Norma_, _I Puritani_ and _Beatrice di Tenda_.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I own recordings of I PURITANI, NORMA, and LA SONNAMBULA. The NORMA is Joan Sutherland's first recording of the title role, whereas the PURITANI is her second recording of Elvira. The SONNAMBULA has a soprano named Luba Orgonasova (sp) singing opposite Raul Gimenez. I also own the Met DVD of PURITANI with Anna Netrebko. 

I love all three works about equally. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say I PURITANI, as it was PURITANI that first made me into a Bellini-lover.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I have Norma.
And for favourite Bellini opera I would say Norma it have lots of music that I like and real earworms and I also like that it is about Celts and Romans.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I've got

Beatrice di Tenda
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Norma
Il pirata
I puritani
La sonnambula

and my favourite is _I puritani_ which is also in my Top Ten.

I really must explore the others.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

I've seen live at Covent Garden and elsewhere:
La Sonnambula
I Puritani
Norma
I Capuleti e I Montecchi

I'd like to know if the others are worthwhile, although I'd certainly like to see them. It's a toss-up between him and Bizet who might have had the greatest opera career has they live longer. Would Bellini have been a Verdi (saving the best for pensioner age) or a Rossini (okay, I'm done with opera already, let's eat!)?


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> Would Bellini have been a Verdi (saving the best to last) or a Rossini (okay, I'm done with opera now, let's eat)?


Maybe he would have been both.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

They certainly are. I would review first "Beatrice di Tenda", "Il pirata" and "La straniera".

Just to put things into perspective, this is the list of operas written by Verdi at the age Bellini died:

_Oberto, Un giorno di regno, Nabucco, I Lombardi, Ernani, I due Foscari, Giovanna d'Arco, Alzira _and_ Attila_.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

schigolch said:


> They certainly are. I would review first "Beatrice di Tenda", "Il pirata" and "La straniera".
> 
> Just to put things into perspective, this is the list of operas written by Verdi at the age Bellini died:
> 
> _Oberto, Un giorno di regno, Nabucco, I Lombardi, Ernani, I due Foscari, Giovanna d'Arco, Alzira _and_ Attila_.


Exactly. Oh, what might have been, particularly as I'm listening to Schubert right now. To have that much talent and die so young!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> I've seen live at Covent Garden and elsewhere:
> La Sonnambula
> I Puritani
> Norma
> ...


Musics is always worthwhile DonFatale, you can buy the lot for next to nothing.:tiphat:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Dynamic/CDS552

Edit , I saw this box at Amazon for €60.00 :tiphat:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Musics is always worthwhile DonFatale, you can buy the lot for next to nothing.:tiphat:


I was thinking of buying that complete set and maybe should have, but was much more expensive than this one with 5 operas, which I got for $10 new:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Florestan said:


> I was thinking of buying that complete set and maybe should have, but was much more expensive than this one with 5 operas, which I got for $10 new:


Also an option :tiphat:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Also an option :tiphat:


May have same performances for the five. I know both sets have Mariella Devia for Puritani.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Now I am saying that of the seven I own (below), my favorite is I Capuleti e i Montecchi (very much because of Kasarova), followed by La Sonnambula and then I Puritani.

Adelson e Salvini
Beatrice di Tenda
Bianca e Fernando
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I puritani
La sonnambula
Zaira

Besides, this thread needed a bump.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​
Lonely at the top.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

My choices:
Norma (Callas!)
La Sonnambula (Callas!)
Beatrice di Tenda (Sutherland, there’s no other viable choice)
I Puritani (Callas!)
Il Pirata (Callas) (Caballé)
Haven’t heard the rest, sorry!


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Beatrice di Tenda (Bonynge/Sutherland)
I Capuletti e i Montecchi (Runnicles/Larmore & Luisi/Netrebko)
I Puritani (Bonynge/Sutherland & Serafin/Callas)
Il Pirata (Gavazzeni/Caballé)
La Sonnambula (De Marchi/Bartoli/Flórez)
Norma (Bonynge/Sutherland & Antonini/Bartoli)

The only one I've seen live is Norma, with an ok production in Australia. Everything about this opera is appealing. Beatrice is relatively new for me and I haven't gotten around to listening to it yet. The others I must revisit – it's been a while.

I've got a counter-question for you: Which of the lesser known Bellini's are worth exploring?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

If you still have Beatrice in your to-do list, this is the right place to start.

"La straniera" is also a wonderful opera.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Norma / Callas

Capulet / Muti

Sonnambula / Callas


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I have _Norma_ and _La somnambula_, both with the Sutherland/Bonynge team. I enjoy both on those rare occasions when I listen to them but I'm pretty much sated with regards to 19th century opera so I'm not likely to get any more.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have all ten Bellini operas now including a 10 opera set and a 5 opera set, plus many individual recordings.

Favorite of all ten is: *La sonnambula*. I have all the commercial recordings on CD (25) and DVD (6). This is probably my favorite of any opera in the world, not just of Bellini.

After La Sonnambula my next two favorites are:

*2. I Capuleti e i Montecchi
3. Beatrice di Tenda*

The rest I need to spend a lot more time with, but I think the next two favorite might be,

*I puritani
La straniera*

Then, not in any particular order,

*Adelson e Salvini
Bianca e Fernando
Il pirata
Zaira*

Then in last place (though first place for many I presume) is,

*Norma.*

I just can't get into the story on Norma, but I probably should listen to it sometime as surely it has some great music.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Fritz Kobus said:


> I just can't get into the story on Norma, but I probably should listen to it sometime as surely it has some great music.


Get the 1955 La Scala performance with Callas, Simionato and Del Monaco under Votto.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...s=Bellini:+Norma+Callas+Votto+La+Scala++1955+


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> Get the 1955 La Scala performance with Callas, Simionato and Del Monaco under Votto.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...s=Bellini:+Norma+Callas+Votto+La+Scala++1955+


Well, my 10-opera Bellini set already has two Norma's: Theodossiou and Caballe. So I would try those first, but am not sure I would get into the opera to the extent I would be buying additional copies. Of course, I have said that of other operas that I now have multiple copies of.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Well, my 10-opera Bellini set already has two Norma's: Theodossiou and Caballe. So I would try those first, but am not sure I would get into the opera to the extent I would be buying additional copies. Of course, I have said that of other operas that I now have multiple copies of.


No, no, no! Listen to me! For Norma you MUST have the 1955 La Scala performance with Callas, Simionato and Del Monaco under Votto.

Everything depends on it. Everything.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> No, no, no! Listen to me! For Norma you MUST have the 1955 La Scala performance with Callas, Simionato and Del Monaco under Votto.
> 
> Everything depends on it. Everything.


There are some for 99 cents, but this one is closer to $10. Not sure all have same sound quality, but if I did get it, I would be inclined to the 99 cent one..









But reading the synopsis, druids, infanticide, ... I don't think I want to go there.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Fritz Kobus said:


> There are some for 99 cents, but this one is closer to $10. Not sure all have same sound quality, but if I did get it, I would be inclined to the 99 cent one..


Go ahead and get a cheap one. I have the Gala; it cost me very little used and it probably isn't the best in sound, but it's listenable and the performance makes me forget about that. Callas is the greatest Norma on records, of all her recordings this one finds her in her best form, and the rest of the cast rises to the occasion for a great night at the opera.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> There are some for 99 cents, but this one is closer to $10. Not sure all have same sound quality, but if I did get it, I would be inclined to the 99 cent one..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


But she is not Medea. She doesn't kill her children.

*Norma* is without doubt Bellini's greatest opera, admired even by Wagner, and one of the pinnacles of nineteenth century opera, but, as Woodduck points out, it does need a Callas. She recorded it twice in the studio and there are quite a few live recordings out there, but the best is La Scala 1955, with Del Monaco and Simionato.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Bellini is the only major opera composer where I don´t own any of the operas; I only have a few instrumental works. It´s a mistake though, and I'll be getting one or two of them via LP offers in the near future. It won´t be a Callas recording however, since I´m not fond of her voice, and it will be a modern stereo version. Maybe a Decca recording, they are often available.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

joen_cph said:


> Bellini is the only major opera composer where I don´t own any of the operas; I only have a few instrumental works. It´s a mistake though, and I'll be getting one or two of them via LP offers in the near future. It won´t be a Callas recording however, since I´m not fond of her voice, and it will be a modern stereo version. Maybe a Decca recording, they are often available.


I will still recommend a Callas recording for your Norma, even if you don't like her voice.

Why?.

Because Norma was written with the great soprano sfogato Giuditta Pasta in Bellini's mind. This is a very rare voice type, and if you read about the subject, there is an eerie connection between Pasta and Callas, a miraculous link spanning more than a century. It's a privilege to be able to listen to Norma sung by Callas, to close your eyes, and pretend that you are somehow back in 1831, listening to Pasta. In my mind, this goes way beyond liking, or not, the timbre of a singer.

Of course, there are other sopranos that were able to sing very good Normas. But none of them can do this magic above. At least, no one of them so far. Maybe there will be other(s) in the future.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Well, I´ll be doing some comparisons. I know there can be quite a difference between the earlier and the later Callas, voice-wise.

Thinking of getting _Norma_, and maybe the rarer _Beatrice di Tenda_, since I have some rather close connections to the Tenda/Tende area. Of course, Sutherland´s Decca _Norma_ is an option, it´s widely available, and I know she´s a debated choice, among opera fans.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

According to Lord Harewood, writing in Kobbé in 1976.



> In the two periods before and after the 1939-45 war, *Norma* acquired tow great protagonists: Rosa Ponselle and Maria Callas, something I know from first hand knowledge in the one case and from reliable hearsay and gramophone records in the other. With such exponents, *Norma*, above all Bellini's operas, flowers, gains in expressiveness and dramatic impact and the music grows to full stature as it cannot when the performance is in lesser hands. Partly, this gain is general and the result of technical attainments, of superior, more penetrating imagination; partly it is particular and the product of an ability to colour and weight every phrase individually, and leave nothing open to the risks of the automatic or the routine. But, whatever the reason, let no one imagine he has genuninely heard *Norma* without a truly great singer in the title role. Not to have one is as dire in its consequences as a performance of *Götterdämmerung* with an inadequate Brünnhilde. The trouble as far as Bellini is concerned is that, in the twentieth century, there have been fewer great Normas than fine Brünnhildes.


I guess he might be saying the same thing about Brünnhilde now, but I see no reason yet to alter the above sentiment. BBC's regular _Building a Library_ has thrice, as far as I'm aware, considered Bellini's *Norma* over the last fifty years or so, the last time just a couple of years ago. Though the programme has been presented by different critics on each occasion, they all opted for one of the Callas recordings as top choice.

Sutherland's *Norma* is quite good, and no doubt a good deal better than anything we would hear today, but the opera doesn't quite reach the stature of which Lord Harewood speaks.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I like Sutherland/Pavarotti in _Lucia di Lammermoor_, one of the few Italian operas I have a weakness for; also own Moffo/Cillario and Scotto/Sanzogno in that work, but haven´t digged much into them.

Regarding Callas, it´s a question of not liking her voice much, obviously not about her vocal technique ...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> I
> 
> Regarding Callas, it´s a question of not liking her voice much, obviously not about her vocal technique ...


You can lead a horse to water.....


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

GregMitchell said:


> You can lead a horse to water.....


I know the feeling


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> But she is not Medea. She doesn't kill her children.
> 
> *Norma* is without doubt Bellini's greatest opera, admired even by Wagner, and one of the pinnacles of nineteenth century opera, but, as Woodduck points out, it does need a Callas. She recorded it twice in the studio and there are quite a few live recordings out there, but the best is La Scala 1955, with Del Monaco and Simionato.


I don't disagree with this but I have to point out the second Norma with Callas as well, the 1960 version with Christa Ludwig as Adalgisa. I love Ludwig's wonderful, wide range and great voice and musicianship, and even though the Adalgisa role is certainly outside her normal wheelhouse, it is a role she sings intelligently and gloriously -- no doubt also inspired by Callas.

PS Oh yeah: Of course this version also offers Franco Corelli, who sings the part of Pollione ferociously. His relationship with Callas was probably more antagonistic than sympathetic.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

All things considered, this is my favorite recording of Maria Callas's Norma. It's from La Scala, under the baton of Serafin.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> But she is not Medea. She doesn't kill her children.


Ok, I didn't catch that. Odd that the libretto is written from the play ou L'infanticide. Well, maybe it works. I'll have to give it a listen sometime and then think about whether I like it enough to go for the Callas set. But now I really have a great desire for this set:


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Fritz Kobus said:


> There are some for 99 cents, but this one is closer to $10. Not sure all have same sound quality, but if I did get it, I would be inclined to the 99 cent one..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The Myto version has the best sound of all the editions released of that recording. Go for it, it's a superb performance and perfectly cast.

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Ok, I didn't catch that. Odd that the libretto is written from the play ou L'infanticide. Well, maybe it works. I'll have to give it a listen sometime and then think about whether I like it enough to go for the Callas set. But now I really have a great desire for this set:


It's of academic interest, I suppose, but I don't ever want to hear it again. *Norma* as a domestic, family drama rather than grand tragedy.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

There's also this thread where I am reviewing the CD recordings of all Bellini's ten operas:

Bellini on cd.......................

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> The Myto version has the best sound of all the editions released of that recording. Go for it, it's a superb performance and perfectly cast.
> 
> N.


Better than Divina? Surely not. A lot cheaper of course.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Barelytenor said:


> I don't disagree with this but I have to point out the second Norma with Callas as well, the 1960 version with Christa Ludwig as Adalgisa. I love Ludwig's wonderful, wide range and great voice and musicianship, and even though the Adalgisa role is certainly outside her normal wheelhouse, it is a role she sings intelligently and gloriously -- no doubt also inspired by Callas.
> 
> PS Oh yeah: Of course this version also offers Franco Corelli, who sings the part of Pollione ferociously. His relationship with Callas was probably more antagonistic than sympathetic.
> 
> ...


I agree with you in many ways. It was the first complete opera set I ever owned, and I got to know it pretty well. Sonically it is better than the first one and the supporting cast is much better. Ludwig sounds, as she should, like the younger woman. I prefer her to the over-the-hill Stignani, and Corelli and Zaccaria are far preferable to Fillipeschi (too crude) and Rossi-Lemeni (too woolly-toned). I also think the performance of _Mira, o Norma_ one of the best on any of Callas's sets, the two artists really listening to each other and blending their dissimilar voices in an atmosphere of true collaboration.

That said, it cannot be denied, that, though the interpretation has deepened, Callas can'y quite hide the deterioration in her voice and someone who doesn't like her is not likely to be persuaded to change their mind.

The 1955 La Scala performance finds her in enviable form on a night when everything seemed to be going right, and the rest of the cast is at least as good as the 1960 studio performance. Fortunately I don't have to choose as I have both (and the earlier studio version from 1954).


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> Better than Divina? Surely not. A lot cheaper of course.


It's the same source (or as close as possible) as Divina and is a touch cleaner possibly because it is an actual pressed CD rather than a CDR one.

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> I agree with you in many ways. It was the first complete opera set I ever owned, and I got to know it pretty well. Sonically it is better than the first one and the supporting cast is much better. Ludwig sounds, as she should, like the younger woman. I prefer her to the over-the-hill Stignani, and Corelli and Zaccaria are far preferable to Fillipeschi (too crude) and Rossi-Lemeni (too woolly-toned). I also think the performance of _Mira, o Norma_ one of the best on any of Callas's sets, the two artists really listening to each other and blending their dissimilar voices in an atmosphere of true collaboration.
> 
> That said, it cannpt be denied, that, though the interpretation has deepened, Callas can'y quite hide the deterioration in her voice and someone who doesn't like her is not likely to be persuaded to change their mind.
> 
> The 1955 La Scala performance finds her in enviable form on a night when everything seemed to be going right, and the rest of the cast is at least as good as the 1960 studio performance. Fortunately I don't have to choose as I have both (and the earlier studio version from 1954).


I agree with much of this, although I like the 1954 recording quite a lot. My favourite Callas Mira o Norma is the one on the Serafin RAI 1955 recording again with Stignani. The blending of the voices there is something wonderful. However there is greater depth of feeling and expression in the more dramatic parts of the opera on the La Scala version.

N.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> It's of academic interest, I suppose, but I don't ever want to hear it again. *Norma* as a domestic, family drama rather than grand tragedy.


Oh. So it is more a Reggiethreater version. But it is the only mezzo Norma. Want to sell your copy?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Oh. So it is more a Reggiethreater version. But it is the only mezzo Norma. Want to sell your copy?


I didn't buy it, but I did think I ought to hear it, so I listened to it on Spotify.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Just listened to my first ever Norma and it is wonderful. I am thrilled. But I don't know that Callas is going to add much over this recording.

Bellini: Norma
Torino della RAI Sinfonica Orchestra, Torino della RAI Choir
Georges Prêtre
Montserrat Caballé (soprano),
Ivo Vinco (bass),
Fiorenza Cossotto (mezzo-soprano),
Robleto Merolla (tenor),
Anna Maria Balboni (soprano),
Mino Venturini (tenor)

Came in a complete Bellini opera set. Apparently only on LP otherwise: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P2WZX6/


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Just listened to my first ever Norma and it is wonderful. I am thrilled. But I don't know that Callas is going to add much over this recording.
> 
> Bellini: Norma
> Torino della RAI Sinfonica Orchestra, Torino della RAI Choir
> ...


No doubt you will soon discover for yourself just what Callas adds. To ignore Callas as Norma is to ignore the foremost interpreter of the role since the second world war. She sang the role more than any other in her repertoire.

Not that I want to run down Caballé, who was an appreciable Norma (my favourite after Callas and best seen in the video of the Orange performance with Jon Vickers as Pollione) but Callas's performances were altogether on a different level of musical and psychological insight. Caballé herself revered Callas above all other singers, and Callas, for her part, admired Caballé enormously, even giving her some of the jewellery she had worn as Norma. In Caballé's own words,



> (Callas) opened a new door for us, for all the singers in the world, a door that had been closed. Behind it was sleeping not only great music but great idea of interpretation. She has given us the chance, those who follow her, to do things that were hardly possible before her. That I am compared with Callas is something I never dared to dream. It is not right. I am much smaller than Callas.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Must confess Bellini doesn't push my buttons as yet. I have Callas in Norma, the Sleepwalker and I Purtani and the Covent Garden Romeo. Have to listen to them sometime


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Some of my favourite Bellini recordings are:

Beatrice di Tenda - Sutherland both studio and live recordings - I like the early partnership with Pavarotti
I Capuleti e i Montecchi - Scotto, Aragall and Pavarotti which is inauthentic but I thoroughly enjoy all the same 
Norma - I really like Callas' earlier studio recording. Her live one from Scala with Simionato and Del Monaco is epic!
Il pirata - Callas and Caballe. I wish Callas' colleagues were better...
I puritani - Callas and Sutherland. My favourite is Sutherland's second studio recording. Pagliughi and Filippeschi are worth a listen
La sonnambula - Callas is great, Sutherland with Gedda was v. impressive. I've a soft spot for Pagliughi and Tagliavini


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Bianca e Fernando vs. the original version, Bianca e Gernando. According to the NAXOS website,



> Compared with the later version Bianca e Gernando has the following basic differences:
> 
> * The opera has no overture, but an introduction (No. 1) with an instrumental prelude and a recitative sung by Clemente. Gernando's recitative "Quest'è mia reggia" has a different, simpler, progression.
> * Gernando's cavatina (No. 2) features a different cabaletta ("Il brando immergere").
> ...


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I got my first Bellini opera then, _Norma_ with Bonynge/Sutherland etc, 3LP for DKK 25 / 3 Euros today, am listening to it now. I' m somewhat ambivalent towards the music, I think there´s a certain martial and static mood which is maybe some of the things that attracted Wagner in the work (?), and also a lot of the typical stuff heard in the Italian operas more or less from those days ... The singing is good of course, the sound of the LPs a bit too distant.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

joen_cph said:


> I got my first Bellini opera then, _Norma_ with Bonynge/Sutherland etc, 3LP for DKK 25 / 3 Euros today, am listening to it now. I' m somewhat ambivalent towards the music, I think there´s *a certain martial and static mood which is maybe some of the things that attracted Wagner in the work (?)*, and also a lot of the typical stuff heard in the Italian operas more or less from those days ... The singing is good of course, the sound of the LPs a bit too distant.
> 
> View attachment 109761


As music director of the Dresden Opera in his early manhood, Wagner performed the operas then in the repertoire, and he developed a special love for Bellini, and _Norma_ in particular. He wrote that he admired Bellini's ability to achieve a strong dramatic effect with simple musical means, saying more with a single expressive melody and a human voice than other composers could say with elaborate musical and theatrical devices (he may have had the grand operas of Meyerbeer in mind). I think this is pretty much what most people love in Bellini. _Norma_ also achieves a nobility and grandeur in its final act, with its melody mounting higher and higher in ecstasy in a sort of "Liebestod" or "immolation scene," that must have inspired Wagner to achieve similarly transcendent finales.

If you want a performance that does full justice to _Norma_'s dramatic power, I recommend the 1955 live La Scala recording with Callas (the greatest Norma of modern times), Simionato and Del Monaco under Votto. I think you can get it pretty cheap.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Yes, there were some Callas recommendations/discussions previously here. Personally I'm not so fond of Callas' voice, however. The static effect I´m talking about I also sense in say "_Lucia di Lammermoor_" - perhaps it´s due to the repetitions, the percussive effects, and the many "lonely" solo arias - but my impression may be too subjective and not well-founded in a purely musical sense; certainly there´s a lot of variation in the work too. I´m listening to side 4 of the LPs now, and I feel there´s a more momentum ... now comes a rather lugubrious solo aria with a cello too. Will hear the final part tomorrow, it´s getting very late.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> If you want a performance that does full justice to _Norma_'s dramatic power, I recommend the 1955 live La Scala recording with Callas (the greatest Norma of modern times), Simionato and Del Monaco under Votto. I think you can get it pretty cheap.


I've already tried leading joen to that particular oasis of water, but it seems I couldn't make him drink.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

GregMitchell said:


> I've already tried leading joen to that particular oasis of water, but it seems I couldn't make him drink.


When there are several options, even water can be a matter of taste ...


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