Vincenzo Bellini was inspired to write the opera for the soprano Giuditta Pasta, renowned for her virtuosity and reigning the stages of Paris, London and her own Italy during the era of bel canto. The composer made the most of her vocal skills (her range was said to reach D6!) and wrote the title part of the opera especially for her, soon earning it the nickname as a “murderer of sopranos”. Pasta’s career was rapidly coming to an end, but Norma with its monumental cantilenas entered the canon of operas around the globe. Piotr Kamiński wrote, “Bellini sculpts his motifs in white marble, smooths their shapes and gives them an unrivalled lustre and energy.”
The Kraków Opera reaches for Bellini’s masterpiece. The history of the high priestess, torn between her duty to religion, her father and her homeland, and her love for the Roman proconsul Pollione, between her love for her children and her desire for revenge, between emotion and obligation, is directed by Laco Adamik, bringing out the universal human dimension of the conflict. Music direction comes from Tomasz Tokarczyk, with Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha in the title role, taking on the infamous cavatina Casta Diva. (Barbara Skowrońska)
Composer: Vincenzo Bellini
Direction: Laco Adamik
Musical direction: Tomasz Tokarczyk
The performance held online on the PLAY KRAKÓW platform.
