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Opera Company's "Norma' (1st review)

In
5 minute read
870 Goerke
Make way for the new high priestess

STEVE COHEN

It’s been quite a while since any soprano so successfully nailed Norma, one of the most difficult of all operatic roles. Such is the impact of Christine Goerke in the current production of Norma by the Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Norma is the most formidable creation of Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835), the Italian composer who took opera into a new dimension and presaged the works of Donizetti and Verdi. Bellini combined long, graceful melodies (similar to what Chopin wrote for the piano) with flashy coloratura and gutsy ensembles. The title role in this opera is so demanding that only five sopranos sang it in the first 87 years of the Metropolitan Opera, and it hasn’t been successfully performed there since Joan Sutherland gave up the role in the early 1970s. In its length and its intensity the part is comparable to Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Gotterdammerung.

Goerke dominates the stage as the supposedly virginal Druid priestess who conducts a long-term affair with her country’s Roman ruler Pollione, bears him two children and then finds that he is leaving her for a younger priestess, Adalgisa. Norma is burdened with guilt about her affair and shame because she must hide the existence of her children. Now, when she learns that the man has betrayed her, she loses control, veering wildly between a desire to kill Pollione, kill all Romans, kill her children, kill her rival or kill herself – or some combination of these. Never have I seen a Norma transmit that panic so well.

Callas disappointed

Not even Callas. I saw Maria Callas’s Norma and was surprised at how studied and restrained it was. Although I was young, my friends and I knew Callas’s reputation as a great actress and we were underwhelmed by her in this role.

Goerke’s voice has grown in size beyond the excellent work that she did here as Rosalinda in Fledermaus (2005) and Alicia in Falstaff (2007). She projects her voice and personality with unusual thrust. At the same time, Goerke negotiates the rapid coloratura passages with flair. Her chest voice is particularly arresting, but she has room for improvement at the very top. On opening night, at least, she omitted some optional high notes, and her voice lacked a bit of brilliance as it soared over the ensemble at the end.

But I can forgive a few intonation problems. If you look for brilliant high notes above all else, Joan Sutherland set the standard. But Sutherland lacked the focus, the squillo (ping), the rich low notes and the intensity that Goerke shows us. Even at this early stage in her development of the role, Goerke compares favorably with the all-time greats.

Younger and lighter

Kristine Jepson is an appropriately innocent Adalgisa. Even though Jepson is a mezzo, she brings to mind the tradition of sopranos who sang the roles of Norma and Adalgisa interchangeably. Both parts have similar ranges, and in duet Adalgisa sometimes sings the higher harmony. The distinction is that Adalgisa is the younger, less-experienced woman and Jepson has the lighter voice of the two. Norma is older and bears greater religious responsibilities and more sexual history, all of which accords with Goerke’s darker voice. The second act "Mira o Norma" duet for the two of them is a highlight.

Philip Webb as Pollione is a puzzlement. At first he seemed unable to give his voice a real tenor sound– unable to place it upward and forward and to give it any resonance. He sounded more like a baritonal heldentenor, suited for Wagner but not for the Italian repertoire. Then he unleashed a good high C in his aria. But he dropped back into his earlier mode for most of the evening, sounding throaty and husky. Happily, his final duet with Norma displayed some nice, sensitive singing.

Eric Owens is a tower of strength, vocally and dramatically as the head priest who is Norma’s father. Dominic Armstrong, in the tiny part of Flavio, "friend to Pollione," sings with the Italianate style that his buddy lacks.

Let him try Verdi

Corrado Rovaris conducts an orchestra that sounds unusually good, with nicely coordinated vocal ensembles. Rovaris began the overture at a fast pace and pressed forward during most of the first act, missing some of the supple ebb and flow that makes Bellini’s music distinctive. Rovaris made Bellini sound like early Verdi– not meant as a compliment in this case– but the company should consider reviving Verdi’s youthful Ernani for Rovaris. He’d be ideal for it, and Goerke would be great in the title role.

Rovaris and the orchestra are at their best in the soulful, poignant prelude to Act Two, as Norma considers stabbing her children.

Kay Walker Castaldo’s direction is innovative to the point of being intrusive. Some things work, like a pantomime during the overture that shows the back-story of Roman conquest of Gaul and the infatuation of Norma and Pollione. Others don’t, like having Pollione hanging around as an extra during the opening scene for the bass and chorus. I harbor mixed feelings about the instances where the director shows conflict between the Roman rulers and their Druid subjects: It’s helpful to show the underlying hostilities but it distracts us from the personal drama.



To read a response, click here.
To read another review by Jim Rutter, click here.

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