Bellini - Norma / Richard Bonynge, Opera Australia [VHS]

Good way to get acquainted with Norma
Comparing a singer with the performer she no longer is, is a legitimate critical enterprise. Not of much use, however, to members of the audience who never knew her back when. I must admit that, to me, bestowing upon a serious artist a title like La Stupenda is identifying her with those Burlesque strippers to whose gyrations we once roared approval. At any rate, allowing for the technical deficiencies of the sound, this appears to be a good way to encounter Bellini's Norma for the first time. If there are few glorious fireworks, there are hours of expressive singing well suited to the thrust of the production. I am not overly fond of period costumery, but that is an individual idiosyncrasy shared by only some viewers. The set is not likely to stimulate your imagination but is an adequate backdrop if one is not on unlimited budget. Overall, therefore, as others have pointed out, a disc which might have been a lot better if properly engineered, but one that will certainly provide a welcome evenings experience.

For Afficvtionados only
This is prime Joan Sutherland, and she is at the top of her form. This said, please remember that this is "bel canto" and do not expect a gripping plot or even anything remotely like real events in history. This is Bellini providing good voices a chance to really exhibit what they can do. The plot is downright silly. If you are not a real fan of great singing order something by Puccini. The sets and staging given this by Operal Australia is all it deserves. Just watch the singers, listen and marvel.

A wonderful "experience"
Today when every advertiser and newscaster is talking about "experiences," I'm reluctant to use the word. Berne wrote of a patient in his group who when she was new in the group went to the hospital to have an "obstetrical experience." The 2nd time, she went to have a baby. But this was a total, whole and glorious experience. It was a class act all the way. It was a quality production from every angle except a somewhat disinterested chorus. I like operas where the chorus is as excited and enthusiastic and involved as the leads. Alas, not in this one. Norma is the role Callas was born to play. That and Medea. Sutherland is too nice. But by god she brings it off! Elkins' voice (and she's no mean coloratura herself) blended so well with Sutherland in their several duets that I never wanted them to stop. I thought the only Bellini opera I liked was I Capuleti. Sigh. Well, after this, I'm going looking for DVDs of Puritani and Sonnambula with Sutherland if I can find versions sans Pavarotti. (I'm sorry he's sick, he meant a lot to millions all over the world, but I just can't take that voice.) The sets are simple to the point of simplistic, and the children looked like they were having a great time and their movements were by the numbers which detracted from the "realism" of the play. Pollione had a wonderful voice and his face registered emotion convincingly, as did Norma's maid's. The lyrics were coloquial, and if there were anyone around who could write poetry and music (there isn't), could have been written today. I highly recommend this opera. It is glorious! Beautiful! One note on another reviewer. Bellini, Donizetti and early Verdi (Italian), and Thomas (French)are the greatest writers of bel canto I have ever heard. Also the only. And to belittle Bellini (who died very young) for what he did write, and then compound the maligning by saying that if he had lived he MIGHT have become another Verdi is just dumb. In the first place they aren't a bit alike. And in the 2nd, Bellini was a fully mature spirit, talent, genius before he ever died, which as I said he did pathetically too soon. As for the companion piece released I think the same time as Norma, Lakme, I bought that too (and got them for $10 apiece from an Amazon seller) and am going to throw it away. God it's an awful bore. Except the beautiful female duet (which is badly done in that version - weak, faint) and the Bell Song (which I didn't stay tuned long enough to hear, shut the stupid thing off after an hour, plus I don't like the Bell Song anyway, I think it's weird, though I've heard Sutherland sing it and she does an exquisite job with it), sigh except these 2 pieces, there simply is no music in it. Oh, there are staves and key signatures and clef signs and notes and rests and dynamics, but there's no music. According to Bonynge, it's Delibes' only successful opera and it was never very popular. I can well understand why. Oh. Also according to Bonynge (or Sutherland, I forget which), Sutherland studied Norma 10 years before performing it on stage. And her first trial with it had Callas as Norma, my guess is Sutherland played Adalgisa, it had to have been that role, but sigh I don't know. I love this DVD and as another reviewer said, her voice was in perfect shape. The other leads were also excellent. Hell, everyone was excellent!

Casta diva
First off, regarding the other reviewer's questions, no, his copy was not an anomaly, the sound quality is very inconsistent on this release, requiring the viewer to constantly fiddle with the volume, a major annoyance to be sure. But this is not the first time I have encountered this problem with productions from the '70's, and it in no way justifies a one star rating. Do I wish the sound quality were better? Absolutely. But am I glad I purchased the DVD despite its shortcomings? You bet. The performances are more than enough to counterbalance this flaw, particularly the performance of Joan Sutherland, the star of this(and any) show. Like the concurrent Kultur release of Delibes' Lakme, this is a Joan Sutherland showcase all the way. The production was done on her home turf, the Australian Opera, the conductor here is the diva's husband Richard Bonynge, and the supporting cast lacks any big names. The advantages of this production over Lakme(which by the way is also worth owning) are a better group of singers overall, and a better performance from Bonynge and his orchestra. The tenor Ronald Stevens has a stentorian voice, he is superior in the brasher moments than in the more lyrical ones, but his performance improves over the course of the opera, and by the end he has proven himself a worthy Pollione, masculine and divided and ultimately noble. Margreta Elkins is a remarkable Adalgisa, her voice is strong and lovely and emotional, and it mixes well with Sutherland's in their multiple duets, creating a perfect unity of beautiful female vocalism. As for Bonynge, he might not be a great conductor all the time, but his style is perfect for the raggedy sound of the hardcore bel canto repertory, and he and the orchestra manage to bring out both the lyricism and the bombast in perfectly measured doses. Which leaves us with Joan Sutherland. I am guessing that she was in her mid-fifties when this was recorded, but she shows no signs of vocal aging. Her singing is even more full-throttle than in Lakme, which was recorded a few years earlier. The biggest surprise, though, is her acting, which is often stilted, but here is brimming with life. She IS Norma...well, she had sung the role so many times prior to this, she must have had a lot of practice getting into the character, and, trust me, it shows. I felt for the heroine, not just because of the music, but because of Sutherland's presence, too. The production is old-fashioned but effective. I especially like the darkness of the sets, the stony medieval ominousness. The picture quality is decent. The visual transfer is definitely superior to the audio one. Norma is a good but not great opera. Some critics argue that if Bellini had lived longer, he might have achieved what Verdi achieved, but I see no evidence of this. Even very early Verdi, such as Nabucco and Ernani, shows an individuality of voice, a diversity of melody and musical ideas, and a youthful, restless emotional fervor lacking here. The music of Norma is consistently beautiful, but also a bit uniform and staid. Really, the only time it achives a Verdian moment of cathartic emotional release is the ending, which is quite powerful. Still, even very good bel canto is worth your attention, especially when it has great performers to do it justice. This Norma is elevated by the quality of its singers, particularly Joan Sutherland, one of the greatest "casta divas" of all time.

Caveat Emptor (Or Is My Copy An Atypical, Individually Defective DVD?
Although the title role of "Norma" was the greatest one in Dame Joan's repertoire, few even of her most ardent fans (and I'm one) would maintain she gave her greatest performances in it. That honor is usually reserved for her roles in "Lucia," "Semiramide," or "Lucrezia Borgia." Nevertheless, hers was a supremely listenable, often beautifully sung Norma, and therefore, when she was in good voice, a memorable one. In this Australian Opera production she was, happily enough, at her best. The "Casta Diva" excerpt on the recently released DVD "The Best of Joan Sutherland" documents this beyond dispute, and for this reason, I purchased the just released complete DVD of the work. I was eagerly expecting, at a minimum, an improvement in picture and sound over her later Canadian DVD performance. Consequently, it is with great regret I must point out that Kultur not only did not see fit to digitally remaster the video, but, worse, even succeeded (in my copy at least) in monumentally screwing up the audio, so that the sound drifts in and out of focus and tune. So poor is the sound that I'll defer reviewing the actual performance until I get a replacement to see if my current response is to a lone wayward disc, or if other parts of the lot are similarly afflicted. Once before, in a "Mikado" from the Australian Opera Company, similar and widespread audio transfer problems were reported on this website. I would be eager to hear that this is not the case with other copies of "Norma," so I hope any reviewers with successful copies will rate the work here and set me straight. August 2, 2006 UPDATE. Today I returned my replacement copy of this opera to the retailer, who put it on his equipment and agreed after only a short period of playing that the sound was indeed grotesquely distorted. The problems I've experienced twice now can not be attributed to the deficiencies of a 1979 telecast. If the date were the problem, there'd be no explaining why the "Casta Diva" excerpt on "The Best of Joan Sutherland" is excellent, while the same aria on the DVD of the complete opera is in stretches nearly unlistenable. Furthermore, having had a friend play me the VHS performance of this "Norma" on Home Vision Video, I'd be at a loss to explain why the sound there is excellent throughout. In transferring this performance to DVD, Kultur or its affiliates bungled some or all of the copies. The company would do well to examine the release for quality control and very likely a necessary remastering.