Men Ain't Shit: Norma at the Met

It's my Spring Break, and I decided to spend part of it solo travelling in New York. Being the boomer at heart that I am, no trip to NY is complete without going to the Met as many times as I can. First up was Bellini's Norma.

The basic plot of Norma is that mom and dad are getting divorced because dad is leaving mom for mom's secretary, and also mom and dad have two secret children, and the Mom's secretary doesn't know that mom and dad were together. And also, Mom's Dad is CEO. It's your pretty standard Bel Canto affair, with a central love triangle, betrayal, death, and beautiful arias. Mom's secretary, however, is a homegirl and doesn't leave Mom for Dad, and instead she and Mom have a whole girl power, chicks-before-dicks scene. The plot is ridiculous, but I kind of love it, especially the fact that Adalgisa and Norma stick together. Everyone needs an Adalgisa, and a reminder that men ain't shit. Women in opera usually get the short end of the stick so seeing women mutually supporting each other is nice, especially when opera is so much about suffering. Of course, Norma jumps into a pyre at the end, but her moments with Adalgisa affirming their support are better than nothing.

I'm a big Bellini fan (see the intro page), and I relish any attempt to see an opera by him, especially since his output is relatively small, and because of the difficulty in finding adequate singers. The orchestration of his operas is not particularly complex, but the vocal writing is stunningly gorgeous and incredibly difficult. Bellini either let singers reach Olympian vocal heights, or exposes the flaws in their production. The title role in particular is notoriously difficult, as it requires an almost superhuman soprano who must be capable of florid singing, but also able to express the gamut of emotions. 

The Singing

As Pollione, Michael Spyres was excellent overall, despite his tops note being a little suspect in the first scene. To be fair, his big scene in the first act is incredibly challenging, and I can't think of any current tenors who could perform this role as well as Spyres. That being said, his singing of "Meco all'altar di Venere" and the ensuing cabaletta was not thrilling in the way that would've brought the house down. His high notes, while there, were cloudy and lacked the ring of someone singing freely. However, I still loved Spyres’ performance. Pollione as a character is a little one-note, but Spyres brought swagger, and passion to the role to keep it interesting. His cloudy top notes were confined to his first scene, and by the time he reappeared on stage, he was at full force and singing much freer. At the least, the coloratura and long lines in his role have never been sung easier. Overall, a fine performance from a singer who I know can do better. Perhaps Pollione is just not a role for Spyres, or maybe he was having an off night.

My only previous experience with Ekaterina Gubanova was seeing her Brangäne in Paris, back in 2018, so as Adalgisa, I wasn't sure what to expect. Gubanova, however, delivered all that she needed and more. Her voice is dark and rich, making her Adalgisa hard to believe as a young priestess. This is opera however, and believability, while important, is not necessarily paramount for me, especially when I can hear a singer as dramatically committed, and vocally secure like Gubanova. The voice is more Azucena than Adalgisa, but Gubanova is a fine mezzo.

I'm curious to know why Gubanova still sings this role. Like Yoncheva in the title role (which I'll get to later), Gubanova, in my opinion, doesn't really need to sing this role. Gubanova can sing the role, and sing it well, but at this point in her career, I think she can safely focus on roles that allow the richness and darkness of her voice to be more dramatically appropriate. I would love to see her as a Verdi Mezzo like Eboli, or Azucena. My unsolicited, and uncalled for advice aside, I did truly enjoy Gubanova.

Starring the Met's new Anna Netrebko as Norma, Sonya Yoncheva delivered more dramatically than vocally. Her voice is undoubtedly gorgeous, with good control, and fluid, but imperfect coloratura. Joan Sutherland in the florid passages Yoncheva is not, but she executed well and, for me at least, her lack of precision wasn't a killer. Her dramatic, and by extension vocal, take on the character of Norma was interesting. With Bel Canto being so focused on making beautiful sound, the drama can sometimes be sacrificed for the music's sake (see Joan Sutherland), but Yoncheva's commitment to her role was enough to keep me satisfied, even if she didn't necessarily sound like a bel canto singer, and even when she was sauntering around the stage like a drunk soccer mom after too much chardonnay. Her approach reminded me of Leyla Gencer, another Norma who was unafraid to use her chest voice, was dramatically focused, and had less than perfect coloratura in the role. 

I wonder though if Norma is really a role for Yoncheva. Yes, Yoncheva can sing Norma, but should she? Looking at her schedule, she's scheduled to sing in mostly Verismo operas for the rest of the year, and I wonder why she still sings this role when it's so unlike anything else she's currently singing. She's certainly not the only person who can sing Norma, and in an opera from a style that's hyperfocused on beautiful singing, Yoncheva's vocal approach seems out of place. Ultimately, I felt that her performance was a verismo approximation of bel canto, and I think she can retire the role from her repertoire, and focus on the expressive, lyrical verismo singing that she excels at, and that she mostly focuses on.

My unsolicited advice aside, and though it may seem as though I disliked Yoncheva, at the end of the day, I still enjoyed her performance. When I step back and think on a base level if I enjoyed Yoncheva, the answer is yes, I just don't think that Norma is the role for which she'll be remembered.

As Oroveso, Christian van Horn was fine. His role isn't that interesting, and his one aria is not very memorable. I honestly couldn't hum you a single one of his lines. CvH, however, is a certified hottie so at least he was nice to look at even in his ridiculous costume.

The Conducting

The biggest drawback to the night was Maurizio Benini's inconsistent conducting. The overture was well done, showing great pace, and having a sense of vitality. Unfortunately, this didn't translate into the performance as his tempi were sluggish in places, and breakneck in others. His conducting of Casta Diva was remarkably slow, forcing Yoncheva to break phrases in two that should normally be sung in only one. Benini did not do Yoncheva any favors with his slow ass conducting, and the resulitng slowness only exacerbated vocal shortcomings on Yoncheva's part. Going so slow as to break the line is almost unacceptable here, where beauty of singing is of paramount responsibility. In other places, namely the opening to Adalgisa’s "Sgombra e la sacra selve" tempos were rushed. Bellini wrote absolutely beautiful music for the flute in this opera, and Benini's tempos stole the flautist's moment to languish in the beauty of what they were performing. It was a shame too as the flautist was fantastic in this performance.

The Staging

The staging was bland and boring, being a closer approximation to the time period. The forest was deforested, and Norma's yurt was visually uninteresting. 


Stray Thoughts


Published March 11, 2023

Recordings

Norma's studio recording history is not the most prolific, perhaps due to the difficulty in casting the title role. The vast majority of available recordings are live, with significantly less studio recordings. Despite this relative dearth of recordings, there's no lack of quality as the demands and renown of the title role have attracted some of the greatest sopranos in history. Notable exponents of the title role, both live and in studio, include legends like Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Beverly Sills, and Renata Scotto. In more recent years, the role has been taken on by Jane Eaglen, Mariella Devia, Sondra Radvanovsky, Edita Gruberova, Sonya Yoncheva (but see above), and Cecilia Bartoli. Of course, hundreds of other women have also sung this role, but you get my point. The greats take on the role.

All this being said, the race for greatest Norma is really a race for second place as Maria Callas dominates the conversation. She recorded the role twice, once in 1954 in mono, and again in 1960 in stereo. A notable live recording from 1952 is also easily findable. All recordings are excellent. Norma was a role that Callas owned during her life, and her recordings show why. No other soprano captures the roles conflicting emotions while navigating the immense difficulties of vocal writing. Her performance has, and will forever, stand the test of time. 

Of the two studio Callas recordings, I prefer the 1960 stereo recording. First, it's in good stereo, allowing Callas' voice to be better captured, though by this point in her career the vocal decline had begun. Second, her supporting cast is also significantly better in 1960. Franco Corelli and Christa Ludwig outclass their 1954 counterparts with Corelli's virile Pollione, and Christa Ludwig's younger Adalgisa. If you prefer to hear Callas in more secure voice, then the 1954 mono recording is excellent.

My personal preference for second place is Joan Sutherland who puts the bel in bel canto. Her 1964 recording with Marilyn Horne and John Alexander doesn't reach the emotional heights of Callas (no recording does) but Sutherland's navigation of the role's vocal demands is of exceptional quality. Horne and Sutherland are notably good in their duets, and Alexander is a fine Pollione.

Another notable recording, though in poor sound, features Montserrat Caballé and Jon Vickers from Orange in 1974. The performance is crazy good, and if the sound were better, it would easily be my 2nd recommendation. Caballé strikes the balance of drama and vocal beauty second only to Callas.