How would you cast Norma today?

[Lilas Pastia]

I totally agree with Puccini's way of ending Act I off :La Bohème  . Another instance in which the composer's instincts are proven right.

However, I was not aware that the  high D Flat in Butterfly's entrance was an interpolation. I've always looked forward to that bit of anticipatory drooling from the girl-bride. So in character. So much for one's illusions...

[zamyrabyrd]

Hi, I just went to the score of Butterfly to make sure I wasn't making my own interpolations.

According to the Ricordi edition the first Db is an oppure or alternate version that got perhaps enshrined in tradition due to its popularity. But the strange part is the high C at the end of the first act, identical to the oppure in smaller print below it. I clearly remember Tebaldi NOT going to the high note at Butterfly's entrance on the LP, because it was so different than what I had been used to. I don't remember if she sang a high C at the end of the first act, or if she is the ONLY exception.

The high C at the end of the first act of Boheme is the tonic note so it is OK and not sounding out of place. Is it possible that the tradition of singing the high C at the end of Butterfly is linked up to the other opera? If the high C is indeed from Puccini in Butterfly (but WHY are there two same possibilities?) then the pattern may have been applied backwards in a place that has the same harmonies but with a difference of a semitone.

Puccini really knew the voice and harmony as well so I wonder what his real intentions were.  The entrance is an etherial Gb major but not expected to be crowned with a shrill Db. In fact, the resolution (high enough) to a Gb is more in character, humble if you will.

When the same musical patterns repeat themselves at the end of the first act in a key a semitone lower, the high C would not be out of realm of possibility or character as there would be an unsettled feeling about it since it is the dominant note of F. (After all, he does end the entire opera in a 6/4 chord, about as unstable as one can get.)

This kind of nutty detail might be boring to some, but structure and harmony do give very important clues for interpretation.

ZB

[Wendell_E]

But the strange part is the high C at the end of the first act, identical to the oppure in smaller print below it. ...

If the high C is indeed from Puccini in Butterfly (but WHY are there two same possibilities?)

But the oppure in smaller print below it is actually in Pinkerton's part, not Butterfly's, at least in the Schirmer vocal score.  Butterfly doesn't have an oppure there.

Of course, Butterfly went through several revisions.  I wonder if Puccini played around with the ending, and different publishers have used different endings.  Here's the last page of the act, from a Ricordi vocal score:

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bhr3491/large/sco10120.gif

and the page before that:

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bhr3491/large/sco10119.gif

There are a couple of differences between that and the Schirmer score.  In the Ricordi, both singers go up to the C, but both have an oppure that only goes up to A.  In the Schirmer, Butterfly has the C (no oppure) and Pinkerton an A (with the optional line going up to C).  Also, starting in the last bar of the penultimate page, Pinkerton sings (in the Ricordi score) "Ah! vien, ah! vien sei mia!, ah!, vien! [plus "sei mia!" if he doesn't sing the C].  In the Schirmer score, he doesn't sing the "ah! vien sei mia!" I bolded, he has rests there.

The two scores also differ at Buttefly's entrance.  In the Ricordi

http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bhr3491/large/sco10042.gif

the line that doesn't have the high D-flat is the oppure, in the Schirmer, it's the other way around.

I checked Charles Rosenkrans' Vox recording with Maria Spacagna and Richard Di Renzi that has "the complete tests of the original 1904 La Scala version and Puccini's revisions for Brescia and Paris".  Spacagna sings the D-flat in the La Scala version, but not in the revisions.  In all three versions, both singers sing the high Cs at the end of the act, and Pinkerton doesn't get those rests.

I really like the D-flat, if it can be sung softly and sweetly, but most singers who can sing the rest of the role don't seem to be able to pull that off, so singing the alternate is probably best.

Gee, I haven't heard Butterfly in a while.  While I have the recordings out...

[zamyrabyrd]

Thanks, Wendell.
Differing editions sure give performers a run for their money. But you are right about the Ricordi--the alternative is for Pinkerton at the end. The buildup and culmination at the conclusion of an act is different from when the music appeared earlier. And it is interesting how the same musical material is transformed. Also, it is a good idea to search up recordings closer to the time of the composer. I love this sort of detective work.

ZB

[Lilas Pastia]

Very interesting indeed. High notes more or less signal the climax of a vocal line. In a very real sense they are extremely important because of the light/colour  they give to the vocal line and the character they impart to the vocal part. As I mentioned, this high Dflat pictures the virgin pre-orgasmic ecstasy of Butterfly as she is to meet her husband. I hope I'm not making that up, but honestly I don't think so. Afer all, could there be real drama and all those wet eyes in the theater if Butterfly's expectations were not at that level?

I love the Freni high note here (Sinopoli on DG - I never heard the famous Karajan in toto). It should be qualified with the suspicion that it seems to be audibly spliced into the recording. But isn't artifice part of the Ewige weibliche ? I think Puccini understood that better than any other composer.

[Tsaraslondon]

(BTW, if Tsaras is reading this, I managed to listen through a few clips on youtube while searching for a really good example of the "Sempre Libera", and was disappointed by Tebaldi's live performance.)

ZB

I don't know if you heard a live version, but in the one I heard, Tebaldi transposes Sempre libera down a tone (as did Ponselle), and still does not attempt what would now be a Db in alt.

[Tsaraslondon]

Going back to this topic's original question, I happened to be talking to a very well known opera producer about Norma just the other day. I can't really give his name on here, but he has produced opera all over the world, including renowned productions at Covent Garden, the Met, Vienna and Australian Opera. He has worked with such singers as Vickers, Domingo, Sutherland, Baltsa, Carreras, Gheorghiu and many more. We were discussing Callas's 1955 La Scala Norma (in my belief, the best of all Callas's preserved Normas, where voice and artistry find their greatest equilibrium), when he stated quite simply, "Of course, the opera is quite uncastable today."

To paraphrase Mike in another post on here, when it is performed these days, it is cast with "what passes for a Norma voice today."

[Lilas Pastia]

"What passes for a Norma voice today" is usually a Brünnhilde (like Jane Eaglen), where most of the vocal weight is in the middle range, with the occasional wind machine high C. What's not to be found in such a voice is the agility and the colours that give Norma a vocal "face".

Coincidentally, I just received from BRO a 1958 Rome Opera Norma under Santini with Anita Cerquetti. Corelli sings Pollione, with old hands like Miriam Pirazzini and Giulio Neri completing the cast. I'm realy curious to see how it goes. Will report when I get there.

[Tsaraslondon]

"What passes for a Norma voice today" is usually a Brünnhilde (like Jane Eaglen), where most of the vocal weight is in the middle range, with the occasional wind machine high C. What's not to be found in such a voice is the agility and the colours that give Norma a vocal "face".

Coincidentally, I just received from BRO a 1958 Rome Opera Norma under Santini with Anita Cerquetti. Corelli sings Pollione, with old hands like Miriam Pirazzini and Giulio Neri completing the cast. I'm realy curious to see how it goes. Will report when I get there.

I've heard the Eaglen version on CD, and, for me, she doesn't even begin to pass muster. It's not just that she doesn't have the vocal agility, but somehow that the style is all wrong.

I think you'll find the Cerquetti recording is of performances, where she replaced Callas after the infamous Rome walk out. Cerquetti was very much considered a second string Norma in those days, though I've no doubt she was a good deal better than the best we could produce today. I'd be interested to hear your impressions.

As a footnote, though the scandal dogs the name of Callas to this day, she did sue the Rome Opera in a case that went on for years. When it was finally settled in Callas's favour, the Rome Opera having been found negligent in not providing a satisfactory cover, though already informed of Callas's ill health, her career was already over and it proved a somewhat hollow victory. The damage done to Callas's reputation and to Callas herself was already profound and far reaching. The money she received in compensation can hardly have made up for the problems she encountered with the press as a result of their negligence.

[Lilas Pastia]

I've read that story and all the hoopla it caused. But if she didn't have a cover (which is an acknowledged fact), how did they get Cerquetti to replace her?? I mean, she was not as famous as La Divina, but she was major a league diva by any standard. This is dated "4.1.1958" Is it January 4, or April 1 ?? Callas' Roman Holiday took place in January, but at what date exactly ?

There are  Youtube extracts of the first Act and the walkout announcement.

[Tsaraslondon]

I've read that story and all the hoopla it caused. But if she didn't have a cover (which is an acknowledged fact), how did they get Cerquetti to replace her?? I mean, she was not as famous as La Divina, but she was major a league diva by any standard. This is dated "4.1.1958" Is it January 4, or April 1 ?? Callas' Roman Holiday took place in January, but at what date exactly ?

There are  Youtube extracts of the first Act and the walkout announcement.

It's January. Cerquetti was not standing by on the night in question, but the Rome Opera then went on to engage her for the rest of the performances and cancelled Callas's contract. This is where she won her case, the court adjudging that they had no right to cancel her contract, as she had recovered by the time of the second performance and told the management she was fit and ready to perform. I can think of numerous occasions where this sort of thing has happened to other singers, and it is not uncommon for an opera house to engage another famous singer, who just happens to be free.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, it has contributed to the image of Callas as a capricious prima donna who would cancel on the least whim, when in fact the reverse was true. She was actually the most professional and dedicated of artists, and her cancellation record was in fact better than almost any other famous singer you could name. The Edinburgh incident of the same year was also a fabrication of the press. She was contracted to do 4 performances of La Sonnambula, which she sang against doctor's orders, before leaving Edinburgh for a needed holiday. When La Scala announced a fifth, she declined, an eventuality for which La Scala was fully prepared as they had non other than Renata Scotto standing by. The press screamed that Callas had walked out to attend a party in Venice. However, the management did not come to her defense, and thus started the rift with La Scala, though it was mended two years later. Looking back, it is possible to see the Rome walkout as the beginning of the end of Callas's career. Rarely has an opera singer had to contend with such an antagonistic, vitriolic press.

[Lilas Pastia]

I've compared the Callas 1953 and Cerquetti 1958 versions. They are very different in most respects.

Norma is an opera that requires great singers across the billboard. Casting the title role is hard enough (always has been), so when a record company has a good candidate the least they should do is surround her with very good singers. There are three important roles that need to be cast from strength: Pollione, Adalgisa and Oroveso. And a good tenor, mezzo and bass are not all that hard to find.

Which is where the two versions at hand differ the most. The 1958 Rome version has a terrific Pollione (Corelli), a very good Adalgisa (Miriam Pirazzini) and a noble, stalwart basso cantante in Giulio Neri. Cerquetti herself is very effective dramatically and she just knocks away all the role's enormous vocal difficulties. Her forte is her beautiful middle range and trumpet-like high notes. Mind you, she can turn those into dulcet tones as well. She is an inspired, subtle Norma. She also does justice to the coloratura (better than Corelli who surfs around the runs and divisions in a very generalized manner). The sound is ok once past the overture. It's cottony but the voices bloom and sound natural. Lo-fi, but quite tolerable.

Callas in 1953 had been singing Norma for a few years already. But at times she sounds as if some phrases have not really been internalized. She would appropriate the role in all its dimensions in later years. I've heard excerpts (on LP) of a 1955 performance (Del Monaco) as well as the EMI stereo version from 1960. The latter finds her in sometimes frayed voice, but the command of lines has such an imperious sense of rightness that  the squally high notes can be forgiven. Those high notes are just perfect in the 1953 recording. So, this is for Callas enthusiasts mainly, as La Divina would be caught in better dramatic form later on. It doesn't help that all the other roles are so provincially cast. Stignani's barking dowager makes a travesty of Adalgisa (she looks at Norma 'like a mother', but here she sounds like she's at least 15 years older than her 'mother'). Fillipeschi is wan of tone, bland of expression and has NO clue whatsoever about coloratura. Rossi-Lemeni's woolly Oroveso robs this potentially imposing character of any dimension. A cardboard chief. The solo voices are recorded too close, esp. Stignani's Adalgisa. At her entrance in Act Two she is much louder than Norma  .

[Tsaraslondon]

LP, I've said it elsewhere, but IMO, the very best of Callas's Normas is to be found in the live La Scala performance from 1955. Here voice and artistry find their greatest equilibrium; indeed this seems to be one of those occasions where the voice was responding to her every whim. The rest of the cast isn't bad either. Del Monaco, like Corelli, is not exactly fluent in coloratura, but the voice certainly sounds right for the role, and Simionato makes a warm, womanly Adalgisa. Votto may not be the most inspired of conductors, but he accompanies Callas and the other singers most sympathetically. It's best incarnation is probably the one from Divina Records, where documentation is also exemplary.

[Lilas Pastia]

Jürgen Kesting's mammoth 26-disc Callas box features 6 different performances of Norma occupying 3 discs. One of these is from the December 1955 performance (the one you recommend and that I heard excerpts of when I owned the LP). CD 13, 67 minutes long.  There are four other performances: a Juner 1955 performance (Serafin), but it has Stignani again as Adalgisa (only three years older ). There's also a 1950 Mexico, 1953 Trieste, 1952 Covent Garden (Stignani again...). I'l lbe listening to those this week. I only hope I can find that famed 12.1955 performance complete, in reasonably good sound and at a decent price.

[Tsaraslondon]

I only hope I can find that famed 12.1955 performance complete, in reasonably good sound and at a decent price.

This is why I suggest the Divina Records version. The performance was not captured absolutely complete, though, fortunately Callas's contribution is, and Divina records make clear where they have had to use parts of other performances (the first 15 minutes of the opera). The major difference is that there was some electro-static distortion during Norma's Dormono entrambi. All previous issues replace this section with the 1955 RAI version, whereas Divina records leave it as it is, so we finally get to hear some of Callas's most moving singing of the night, http://www.divinarecords.com/

[Lilas Pastia]

Thanks! I've placed the order  .

Before I give a brief assessment of the 1953 Trieste and 1950 Mexico City versions (short extracts of Act I only), here's something I forgot to mention about the 1958 Rome Cerquetti Norma.

Right after the cavatina (Casta Diva), there's a round of applause, followed after some 30 seconds by a smattering of boos (Callas fans?), and there starts a shouting match involving the audience, all of which  (1m30s) captured by the microphones. It really is quite extraordinary. The aria has been sung with great beauty and power, so there's no doubt Cerquetti's performance is not the object of the turmoil. I can only imagine the star of the show standing still (arms crossed? extended?) witnessing the opera audience shouting about the Norma who wasn't there. What a disturbing feeling !

That portion of the opera is precisely what's on offer in the Mexico and Trieste performances: Sediziose voci - Casta Diva and the cabaletta Ah! Bello, a me ritorna. This is very instructive. The 1950 performance finds Callas in full possession of the role's vocal and dramatic demands (admittedly the most famous moment). I couldn't really find anything to detract from the balance sheet. The 1953 Trieste is, according to Jürgen Kesting, Callas' most perfect portrayal of the druid priestess. He is absolutely right to point to the crescendos of both verses that end with a huge, gleaming high B flat. Very delicate shadings, mostly of the soft phrase end kind. More imaginative vocal shading within phrases was to come later. The very difficult interpolated high A flat in the recitative ending with E il sacro vischio io mieto is totally secure in 1953, rather less so in 1950. So much for the idea that early Callas was best in all vocal respects. If I'm not mistaken it's the same interval and note that always gave Callas so much trouble in the Addio del passato (La Traviata) - a phrase that usually ended with a cracked note.

Next is the 1952 Covent Garden performance, about 65 minutes of extracts, and then two 1955 performances - including that vaunted 12.1955 one I just ordered (not exactly cheap BTW ).

[Tsaraslondon]

including that vaunted 12.1955 one I just ordered (not exactly cheap BTW ).

No agreed, not cheap. But I think it's worth the extra outlay for the superior sound, the correct pitches, and the excellent documentation. There are some extraordinary noises from the audience in this set too. Hard to make out exactly what is going on, but it somehow adds to the excitement.

[knight66]

All making for interesting reading, thanks both.

Mike

[Lilas Pastia]

I've listened to excerpts form the June 55 Callas Norma, as well as the complete December performance and large extracts of the 1974 Orange production with Caballé, Veasey  and Vickers. The latter is available in multiple 10 minute snippets on YouTube and I urgently commend anyone interested to sample it. I was amazed at the mastery shown by Caballé. Once past her first scenes (From Sediziose voci to Ah! Bello a me ritorna) she is in complete command of the role. Her range of vocal colours is amazing. In mia man alfin tu sei is tinged with a contained ferocity I wouldn't have thought Caballé capable of. Her trademark range of arm movements draw one in the drama like a magnet. Vickers is easily the most formidable Pollione on can imagine. Powerful stuff. The constant wind blows those antique robes in a strong evocation of the implacable drama enacted on stage.

The Callas Normas are something else. In June 55 her voice had lightened remarkably compared to the previous incarnations I've heard (1950, 52, 53 and 54). Her dramatic loss of weigth took place in 1954 and although I can't hear that much of a difference between 1952-54, there's a substantial vocal transformation in 1955. Not only is the tone lighter, but the attack and release of the notes are freer, the coloratura more agile and the voice seems to respond to her dramatic instincts with much more flexibility.

Dynamic markings are emphasized, with a greater range between pianissimo, floated high notes and full-voiced fortissimo phrases. On the debit side, gone is the Nilsson-like pulverizing power she use dto hurl some phrases in 1952. She has to make some adjustments to keep the voice under control in the biggest moments. She has clearly worked on the characterization to offer a more complex portrayal.

Very good singing from Simionato, but she still booms shamelessly, Azucena-like when she lets it all out . Del Monaco has a strong voice and sings very well, but I much prefer the June Pollione, Mirto Picchi. His is one of the most arresting portrayals of that cardboard character I've heard. Corelli (with Cerquetti) and Vickers are very different but just as good.

It helps that the sound is generally very good - much better that in the Membran edition I have. No distortion, some peaking in loud passages, good placing and a strong presence from the orchestra. The December 55 version is - as Tsaraslondon has already mentioned - the way to go to hear Callas' Norma in all its glory. But for special vocal insights and some spectacular vocalism I'll return to the 1953 Trieste and 1952 London versions (excerpts only).