[Met Performance] CID:256840



Norma
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, March 17, 1979 Matinee Broadcast
Broadcast Matinee Broadcast





Norma (111)
Vincenzo Bellini | Felice Romani
Norma
Shirley Verrett

Pollione
Carlo Cossutta

Adalgisa
Elena Obraztsova

Oroveso
Paul Plishka

Flavio
John Carpenter

Clotilde
Elizabeth Coss


Conductor
Peter Maag





Available for streaming at Met Opera on Demand
Rebroadcast on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Radio

Review 1:

Peter G. Davis in The New York Times
Opera: Shirley Verrett Sings Norma at the Met

Shirley Verrett sang her first Norma at the Metropolitan Opera Saturday afternoon, an indisposition having prevented her from appearing as Bellini's Druid priestess at last Monday night's "Norma." Miss Verrett is a singer of intelligence, beauty and generous vocal endowment, and her accomplishments in this most demanding of bel canto roles were not inconsiderable, although the overall impression she left was a curiously uneven one.


Her voice, in terms of range, size and agility, meets most of the basic requirements, but it was never quite certain what one might hear from one note to the next. At times the top rang out freely, at other times there were signs of strain and fatigue; the lower register could be full and expressive or just as often husky, forced and shy of the correct pitch; the middle range always sounded weak and without support or presence.


With such an unreliable technique at her disposal, perhaps due in part to her recent illness, one can scarcely speak of a Norma in full command of the music. Most sopranos find the long-spun phrases and delicate coloratura of "Casta diva" an unsettling, cruel exposure so early in the opera, and Miss Verrett's nervous, choppy account of the aria proved that she was no exception. Thereafter matters began to improve and as the afternoon wore on she appeared to have more control over a recalcitrant voice. But despite moments of undeniable beauty and dramatic conviction, her performance never showed real consistent vocal authority.


Dramatically, Miss Verrett was equally unpredictable. Often she would create the right atmosphere with telling simplicity, as in the abortive attempt to murder her children. Far more often, though, she indulged in a series of poses and gestures that are stock cliché mannerisms of too many opera singers.


Aside from Miss Verrett, the cast was identical to Monday night's performance with Elena Obraztsova as Adalgisa, Carlo Cossutta as Pollione and Paul Plishka as Oroveso, with Peter Maag on the podium.



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