Bellini - Norma / Sutherland · Caballé · Pavarotti · Ramey · WNO · Bonynge

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Sutherland's Norma offers ravishingly beautiful tone at a pitch where most soprano voices get thin, exquisite grace and agility in the elaborate ornamentation that characterizes bel canto style, and freedom from strain no matter what kind of vocal acrobatics a composer may demand. What one misses here is the heightened drama, the precise delineation of character and emotion, and the verbal mastery of Callas. Sutherland's voice--the main reason for wanting to hear this recording--is perhaps a shade less fresh in this 1984 performance than when she recorded her first Norma 20 years earlier, but she still has all the grace, all the high notes, and most of the power that earned her the Italian nickname "La Stupenda." She heads an all-star cast that lives up to its reputation, and her husband's conducting is more impressive than it was in 1964. --Joe McLellan

Bellini - Norma / Sutherland · Caballé · Pavarotti · Ramey · WNO · Bonynge, Music, Vincenzo Bellini, Richard Bonynge, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh National Opera, Luciano Pavarotti, Samuel Ramey, Diana Montague, Classical, Classical Music, Italian Romantic Opera, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta

Bellini - Norma / Sutherland · Caballé · Pavarotti · Ramey · WNO · Bonynge
Average customer rating:

A Wonderful Performance

SUTHERLAND'S NORMA VINTAGE 1984

MOST BEAUTIFUL SOUNDING NORMA RECORDING AVAILABLE

unconvincing

Her second studio recording, and Norma is still lifeless!

Bellini - Norma / Sutherland · Caballé · Pavarotti · Ramey · WNO · Bonynge
Vincenzo Bellini , Richard Bonynge , Joan Sutherland , Montserrat Caballé , Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh National Opera , Luciano Pavarotti , Samuel Ramey , and Diana Montague
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000041QF
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Norma: Sinfonia
Norma: Introduzione; Ite sul colle, o Druidi
Norma: Svanir le voci!
Norma: Meco all'altar di Venere
Norma: Me protegge, me difende
Norma: Norma viene
Norma: Sediziose voci, voci di guerra
Norma: Casta Diva
Norma: Fine al rito
Norma: Ah! bello a me ritorna

Tracks:

Norma: Sgombra e la sacra selva, compiuto il rito
Norma: Deh! proteggimi, o Dio!
Norma: Eccolava!, mi lascia, ragion non odo
Norma: Va, crudele, al Dio spietato
Norma: Vanne, e li cela entrambi
Norma: Adalgisa!
Norma: Oh! rimembranza!
Norma: Ah! si, fa core, abbracciami
Norma: Ma di', l'amato quale fra noi si noma?
Norma: Oh non tremare
Norma: Oh! di qual sei tu vittima
Norma: Oh! qual traspare orribile
Norma: Norma! de' tuoi rimproveri
Norma: Perfido!
Norma: Vanne, si; mi lascia, indegno

Tracks:

Norma: Introduzione
Norma: Dormono entrambi
Norma: Mi chiami, o Norma!
Norma: Deh! con te, con te li prendi
Norma: Mira, o Norma
Norma: Si, fino all'ore estreme
Norma: Non parti?
Norma: Guerrieri! a voi venirne
Norma: Ei tornera
Norma: Squilla il bronzo del Dio!
Norma: Guerra, guerra!
Norma: Ne compi il rito, o Norma?
Norma: In mia man alfin tu sei
Norma: Gia mi pasco ne' tuoi sguardi
Norma: Dammi quel ferro
Norma: Qual cor tradisti, qual cor perdesti
Norma: Norma! deh! Norma, scolpati!
Norma: Deh! non volerli vittime

Amazon.com

Sutherland's Norma offers ravishingly beautiful tone at a pitch where most soprano voices get thin, exquisite grace and agility in the elaborate ornamentation that characterizes bel canto style, and freedom from strain no matter what kind of vocal acrobatics a composer may demand. What one misses here is the heightened drama, the precise delineation of character and emotion, and the verbal mastery of Callas. Sutherland's voice--the main reason for wanting to hear this recording--is perhaps a shade less fresh in this 1984 performance than when she recorded her first Norma 20 years earlier, but she still has all the grace, all the high notes, and most of the power that earned her the Italian nickname "La Stupenda." She heads an all-star cast that lives up to its reputation, and her husband's conducting is more impressive than it was in 1964. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Performance.......2007-04-02

I have been a great fan of this recording since I first heard it nearly 20 years ago. The recorded sound is superb, the edition of the score complete, and the cast not only all-star, but comprised of truly great singers in the repertoire they did best. So why only 4 stars. I'll tell you.

It cannot be denied by an honest critic that Sutherland's and Caballe's voices were captured here somewhat past their prime. In Sutherland's case, the tone on high has thinned and the "beat" in sustained tones in pronounced (not quite a wobble, but a beat). Caballe, on the other hand, is often brassy and harsh at sustained fortes and louder. I am a great, great fan of both of these ladies, but I cannot deny that their voices in 1984 in this demanding score are not what they were 10-15-20 years before.

That said, I adore this record. Both leading ladies are absolute mistresses of the bel canto style. Their phrasing, approach to high notes, portamento, and coloratura are wonderful to hear. Where are their heirs? Sutherland has become truly regal in the role of Norma, still not as incisive nor terrifiying as Callas, but just as authoritative in her own way. Her diction is much improved, in fact, over her 1964 recording. Her coloratura on high is still spectacular, but balanced by a new warmth and vitality expressed through language and phrasing. Of course, the brilliant high D capping the Act One trio is vintage Sutherland!

Caballe, over 50 at the time of the recording, does the impossible and makes Adalgisa sound young! How many chesty matrons singing the role have done that? Caballe's trademark floated piannissimos are still there, her elegance undiminished. In the big act one duet with Norma, as Adalgisa, reveals her love affair and breaking of her vows, Caballe really sounds like a young woman shamefully revealing her secret to an older woman who cares for her. The passage that begins "ah, si fa core..." finds Caballe breathing a sigh of relief, her fear dissapating in Norma's loving embrace. .

FInally, Pavarotti is predictably fine as is Ramey, but the ladies really steal the show. They prove that art, style, and experience more than compensate for the effects of time on such great voices. Let's give this one a 4.5!

SUTHERLAND'S NORMA VINTAGE 1984.......2006-07-26

Joan Sutherland's place in operatic history was quite secure before she did this recorded remake of Norma in 1984 -- her previous 1964 London recording (as well as her subsequent 1972 live San Francisco recording) accomplished this (as did her her 1960's recordings of Semiramide, Sonnambula, Puritani, and others) most successfully. Sutherland was possibly the master bel canto vocal technician of the twentieth century, and the ends she sought were very different from those of Maria Callas. However, NO voice, no matter how magnificent, can remain immune to the passage of twenty years, as well as the ravages of age. Sutherland does a vocally respectable job here for a soprano at age 58, and there are times when she still has at her command the technical skill necessary for the great role. At other times, however, the voice becomes "gray" and colorless, and not always completely steady. Of course Callas lacked steadiness to an even greater degree (especially on her second EMi recording in 1960), but her dramatic and musical genius yielded far greater dividends than Sutherland does here. I suspect that the availability of Pavarotti was the reason for this recording (John Alexander ably partnered Sutherland on her 1964 recording), and he certainly sings a good Pollione (though not as heroic or stentorian as Franco Corelli on the 1960 Callas recording), though he's not very subtle. The interesting component here is Montserrat Caballe', soprano Adalgisa, who sounds amazingly youthful (a far cry from the matronly and aged sound of Ebe Stignani on the first Callas recording in 1954). I've always felt that a soprano works better in this role than a mezzo (Marilyn Horne being the exception, and her duets with Sutherland on the 1964 recording are the stuff that legends are made of!). Truth to tell, both Sutherland and Caballe sound well in the two big duets (though not on the level of the 1964 Sutherland and Horne), and their voices blend beautifully when sounded in thirds together.
Please do not misunderstand me. There is some fine singing to be heard here, but the truth is that Sutherland, if certainly not voiceless, is certainly past her best singing days, and she suffers from the comparisions to her earlier recording, which, is, of course, natural. I find Caballe' a good reason to value this set, though for her this must have been a holiday, since her own Norma is well known and admired.
A final observation: where are sopranos like Callas, Sutherland, and Caballe' today?
Like the dodo bird, these fabulous vocal giants are extinct.

MOST BEAUTIFUL SOUNDING NORMA RECORDING AVAILABLE.......2006-02-27

If you want the most dramatic interpretation of this opera, look to the Callas recordings due to the wonderous performance by Callas. The boring conducting by Serafin and quality of singing and interpretation by the supporting casts in both of the major studio recordings done with Callas will not impress you. If you want to be enthralled with beautiful sound, look to this opera recording with Sutherland and no further. Sutherland, Pavarotti, and Caballe are the dream cast for this opera, backed by brilliant conducting by Bonynge. The quality of the recording itself is incredible, and you will not be disappointed. If I had to pick just one Norma recording from my collection, this would be it.

unconvincing.......2005-06-01

Dame Joan simply doesn't get it. There is no drama in her interpretation of this complex role, she conveys nothing. Her husband's conducting is bad as well. I am so disappointed by this recording.
Her pronounciation is bad, phrasing as well. "Qual cor tradisti..." is unbearable.
Whoever wants to hear real Norma, get Callas. Studio recording or live from La Scala. Those are ultimate Normas.

Her second studio recording, and Norma is still lifeless!.......2005-03-18

I always thought that canaries weren't supposed to sing Norma. That is, until I heard Edita Gruberova in Vienna! Beautiful voice! Beautiful sound! Very good interpretation, with high notes reminiscing young Joan Sutherland, but only better! Sadly, I cannot say that about Joan Sutherland. As always, she sings wihout passion. Garbled pronunciation of Italian words, horrendous state of her middle voice, undesirable mezza voce, it puzzles me why many people would run after these divas who sing Norma with a ton of hot air...and that's it. Puzzles me a lot, really. I mean, how on earth can people sing Norma without emoting their voice in singing? It's atrocious! You'd think that a few years later, Sutherland's dramatic insight would improve, but no! And they caught her voice at a very bad time too! Callas, as always, will be the sublime, definitive Norma, even until the end of her career where her voice had begun to fade. At least she still conveyed the needed emotions for this role. Caballe could do Norma well too, and recently, Miricioiu and Gruberova. If Renee Fleming will do Norma, then we'll have another great Druid priestess on record. Not La Stupenda! It was a good thing that only very few records of her were preserved on tape. Otherwise, I would have recommended her live Norma from San Francisco. That, at least, is dramatically right. In this record, Caballe can of course, sing the role of Adalgisa, but I think she was better suited as the priestess. I can't say the same about Pavarotti. I still think Corelli is the best Pollione ever. Avoid Sutherland's studio Normas. Sure there is good singing, but you don't get to hear what Norma is supposed to sound like. Besides, Bonynge always conducts sloppily, unlike Serafin who is the singer's conductor (and possibly the greatest conductor of all time!).

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