NORMA
Vincenzo Bellini (1801 - 1835)
Opera in two acts in Italian
Libretto: Felice RomaniPremièr at Teatro alla Scala, Milan – 26 December 1831
06†, 08 October 1966
Théâtre de Beaulieu, Lausanne
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale, Bologna
Conductor: Oliviero de Fabritiis
Chorus master: Gaetano Riccitelli
Stage director: Enrico Frigerio
Scene and costumes: Mischa Scandella
Pollione Roman Pro-consul in Gaul GASTONE
LIMARILLI tenor
Oreveso Archdruid father of Norma IVO VINCO bass
Norma High priestess of the druidical temple
LEYLA GENCER soprano
Adalgisa a virgin of the temple FIORENZA
COSSOTTO mezzo-soprano
Clotilde Norma’s confidante ANNA LIZA BAZZANI soprano
Flavio a centrurion VITTORIO PANDANO tenor
Time: About 50 B.C.
Place: Gaul
† Recording date
Photos © MARCEL IMSAND, Lausanne
Drawings © PINO CASARINI / MARCELLO MASCHERINI
SILVER PLATE
COLOURED DRAWINGS BY PINO CASARINI
BLACK & WHITE DRAWINGS BY MARCELLO MASCHERINI
Verona, Valdonega, 1966, cartella in-4to (cm. 30 x 23) con piatti rigidi foderati in velluto e placca argento impressa in rilievo e applicata al piatto anteriore, pp. (24) a fogli sciolti con una litografia a colori di Pino Casarini “La lirica” e nove schizzi in nero di Marcello Mascherini. Il “Festival” comprende tre opere: Norma, con musiche di Vincenzo Bellini - Nabucco e Un ballo in maschera con musica di Giuseppe Verdi. Opere eseguite dall’Orchestre Symphonique et Choeurs e cori de l’Operà de Bologne. Tiratura di soli 200 esemplari.
LAUSANNE FESTIVAL BOOKLET
1966 October
NOUVELLISTE DU RHONE
1966.10.07
COMPLETE RECORDING
1966.10.06
Recording Excerpts [1966.10.06]
Casta Diva Act I Scene IV
Ah! Bello Act I Scene IV
Oh! di qual sei tu vittima Act I Scene IX
Ei tornera, si Act II Scene VI
In mia man Act II Scene X
Qual cor tradisti Act II Scene XI (Final scene)
Deh non volerli vittime Act II Scene XI (Final scene)
FROM CD BOOKLET
NORMA
Lilli Lehmann - the first Norma at the Metropolitan in 1890 - is quoted as having said that it was easier to sing all three Brünnhildes than one Norma. In Wagner, she explained "you are so carried away by the dramatic emotion, the action and the scene that you do not have to think how to sing the words. But in Bellini you must always have a care for beauty of tone and correct emission." Considering the current ubiquitous popularity of the opera and the adulation eponymous heroines enjoy if and when they can cope with the role's exorbitant demands it is interesting to read the reaction of the press when the legendary Rosa Ponselle - still considered the benchmark soprano as far as this role is concerned, although apart from "Casta Diva" and the "Mira o Norma" duet there is no material available to back up this claim - sang the role at the Metropolitan opera in 1927. W.J. Herderson wrote in the "New York Sun": "There is some pitiably cheap and commonplace stuff in the melodic conent of the work. At his best Bellini is a facile melodist of the saccharine and sentimental type, but he occasionally finds a happy opportunity for the exercise of his particular talent, as in "Casta Diva" with its deep-breathed phrases and its mellifluous suavity. The opera depends heavily on what the artists put into it." Few admirers of Bellini's uniquely polished artistry, his deceptive simplicity, would agree with th first part of Henderson's criticism, but it i indeed a salient feature of belcanto operas that they "depend heavily on wha the artists put into it." The demands of the main role are, of course, phenomena and few sopranos - if any - have opge managed to cope with all its aspects. Zinka Milanov, a noted Norma during the 1940s/50s, summed it up pithily: "It's easy if you sing it badly." tudeb the "Norma" interpretations of Gina Cigna, Maria Callas, Zinka Milanov, Joa Sutherland, Elena Souliotis, Montserrat Caballé, Beverly Sills, Renata Scotto - and now Jane Eaglen are all readily available. One famous interpretation - Leyla Gencer's - has hitherto been curiously absent and MYTO has decided to remedy this unaccountable omission. Leyla Gençer made her debut at the Opera in Ankara in 1950 as Santuzza, subsequently continuing her studies with Giannina Arangi-Lombardi and Apollo Granforte, both of whom were teaching i Ankara at the time. In 1953 shenioneg auditioned at the San Carlo in Naples and was engaged to sing Madama Butterfly and Tatjana in Eugen Onegin. She worked with Tullio Serafin on Traviata, performing this role in Palermo in 1955. Two years later she sang Lucrezia in "I due Foscari" under him. After guest appearances as Violetta in Lucia in San Francisco and as Turandot in Los Angeles she made her debut at La Scala in 1957 as Leonora in "La Forza del Destino". In 1958 she sang Anna Bolena there. In 1959 she sang at the Maggio musicale, Florence in Verdi's "La Battaglia di Legnano". In 1960 she took over Callas' "Poliuto" performances at La Scala and in 1961 she made her Salzburg debut as Amelia in "Simon Boccanegra". She first sang Norma in 1962 and appeared in that role at the Verona Festival in 1965. In 1972 Leyla 2 Gencer was lauded as the eponymous heroine in Gluck's "Alceste" at La Scala. She made guest apperances at Covent Garden as Elisabeth in "Don Carlos" as well as Donna Anna and also appeared in Glyndebourne and at the Edinburgh of Festival. Further stations in her career were Vienna and Munich, the Moscow Bolshoi theatre, Leningrad, Stockholm, Oslo, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Brussels and Rio de Janeiro. Leyla Gencer's repertoire was enormous. It included Elisabeth in "Roberto Devereux", Pacini's Saffo, Medea, La Vestale, Rossini's Elisabetta Caterina Cornaro Odabella, Lady Macbeth, Elvira in "I Puritani" and Francesca da Rimini.
Fiorenza Cossotto studied at the Turin Conservatoire. In 1955 she joined the La Scala school in Milan, where she soon became a member of the opera company, making her debut in 1957 in the world premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogue de Carmélites" (together with Leyla Gencer). Subsequently she was entrusted with further small but important roles such as Artemide in "Ifigenia in Tauride" and Teresa in "La Sonnambula", opposite Maria Callas. In 1958 she recorded Cherubino under Giulini. In 1960-aged 25 - she sang her first Amneris in Verona and in 1961 she appeared there as Carmen and Azucena. That same year she alternated with Giulietta Simionato as Leonora in "La Favorita" and also sang the Page in the legendary Scala production of "Les Huguenots", opposite Corelli, Sutherland and Simionato. At La Scala she subsequently sang Ulrica, Amneris, Carmen, Azucena, Eboli, Adalgisa, Rosina, Santuzza and Lady Macbeth.
Fiorenza Cossotto studied at the Turin Conservatoire. In 1955 she joined the La Scala school in Milan, where she soon became a member of the opera company, making her debut in 1957 in the world premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogue de Carmélites" (together with Leyla Gencer). Subsequently she was entrusted with further small but important roles such as Artemide in "Ifigenia in Tauride" and Teresa in "La Sonnambula", opposite Maria Callas. In 1958 she recorded Cherubino under Giulini. In 1960-aged 25 - she sang her first Amneris in Verona and in 1961 she appeared there as Carmen and Azucena. That same year she alternated with Giulietta Simionato as Leonora in "La Favorita" and also sang the Page in the legendary Scala production of "Les Huguenots", opposite Corelli, Sutherland and Simionato. At La Scala she subsequently sang Ulrica, Amneris, Carmen, Azucena, Eboli, Adalgisa, Rosina, Santuzza and Lady Macbeth.
