And there was a third partner in this dance: the orchestra, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, which performed with precision and expressive clarity throughout the performances.Īs Oroveso, Norma’s father and leader of the Druids, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn was commanding, his voice penetrating and well-lathed. While Berti was inconsistent elsewhere in the performance - pinch-toned or swimming up to and around pitches - here he was solid and ardent, cleanly dispatching his arabesques. Their duet was hugely propulsive, as the lovers examined their predicament from every angle. Their tightly harmonized voices were like twin kites, flying through coloratura runs and roulades in flawless formation.īarton brought the best out of tenor Marco Berti, who sings the role of Pollione, proconsul of the occupying Roman forces. Their lengthy Act 1 duet - in which the priestesses discover their shared love interest, setting off a conflagration before they calm down and become BFFs once again - was a highlight. This is her San Francisco Opera debut, and she undoubtedly will be returning, for she is a singer of calming power and grace, of confessional expression. If Radvanovsky’s voice can be like a clarion trumpet, Barton’s is like a French horn, with its mysterious sound, deep and wide - a comfort, calling the listener home to the nest. She has a stunning partner in mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, who sings the role of Adalgisa, the younger priestess. Likewise for Radvanovsky, whose move to the bel canto repertory has been recent, following her long string of successes in dramatic Verdi roles. You figure she can do it, if not this time, then the next.

It was like watching an Olympic figure skater as she executes the most graceful and demanding routine, only to fall while landing that crowning, triple axel jump.

Yet repeatedly at the apex of key coloratura passages, her voice failed her, growing scratchy or breaking outright, as she lost the climactic note. First, there was her sheer charisma as an actor, as she portrayed the priestess’s heartbreak over Pollione, the general (and the father of her two children), who has taken up with a younger gal - er, priestess.Ĭombine Radvanovsky’s magnetic presence with her dramatic soprano’s radiance, power and prismatic colors, as well as her elegant contouring of phrases and spun-sugar pianissimos, and you had the makings of something memorable. In many ways, it was a splendid performance that she gave Friday. Whether it will gain the blue ribbon in its six remaining performances is largely up to soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who sings the demanding lead role of Norma, the high priestess. With its high drama and streams of bel canto song, it is one of the most alluring and durable operas in the repertory.ĭirected by Kevin Newbury, the new production of “Norma” at San Francisco Opera is a very good one, though Friday’s season-opening performance at War Memorial Opera House kept falling short of the benchmark. It pairs the sweetest melodies with the most violent emotions, its plot hinging on a pair of Druid priestesses - celibates, they’re supposed to be - who fall for the same Roman general in ancient Gaul, circa 50 B.C.E. SAN FRANCISCO - Vincenzo Bellini was barely 30 when “Norma,” his masterpiece, premiered at La Scala in 1831.

Norma san francisco opera