Norma

As I write this review of "The Fourties" [sic] release of the February 20, 1937 MET "Norma" staring Cigna, Martinelli, Castagna, and Pinza, there are 35 other reviews listed. As far as I can tell they are all of various Callas or Sutherland recordings. Those are wonderful performances, but a review of them isn't going to help you decide whether to buy this much earlier "Norma."The 1936/7 season of the MET saw the formation of one of the most exciting (if short-lived) quartets ever to strut the boards. Giovanni Martinelli (tenor) and Ezio Pinza (bass) had long sung at the MET, and Bruna Castagna (mezzo) had joined just the year before. The addition of the dramatic diva Gina Cigna (soprano) in February 1937 completed this Italian dream-team. This radio broadcast "Norma" followed Cigna's debut two weeks earlier in "Aida" (see my review of the Melodram release) with the same crew. In between, she also sang Gioconda and Leonora in "Il Trovatore" -- a very busy two weeks, indeed! I write this to show how historic this month and season were for New York opera.In brief, Martinelli and Pinza are wonderful and solid. There is nothing whatsoever to complain about, but nor do their performances rise to the level of their greatest. The brilliant star, as in the "Aida" two weeks earlier, is for me Castagna. As Adalgisa, note after note she hits perfection in a beautifully understated way. Cigna begins a little rocky, her "Casta Diva" that day was not one of the great performances of that oh-so-difficult aria. It is in her pairings with Castagna (which start off a little rocky) that her voice opens up and finds perfection. By the time she contemplates infanticide, she is frighteningly good. At the end of "Norma" she is not only literally--but also vocally--on fire. For several years, the Met wanted Kirsten Flagstad to sing Norma, and I wonder what sort of a Brunnhilde Cigna would have made riding into that Wagnerian funeral pyre; the roles are not as different as they may seem.The recording quality is not bad and "The Fourties" [sic redux] have remastered the performance using a Cedar Sound System. I find this much clearer than many of the woefully-poor and dim live recordings of Callas from 1949 to the mid-1950s, even though this is a dozen or more years older. Yes, there are bad spots (a noticeable periodic "thump" or beat from a bad 78 disc on CD2, and rather dim sound towards the beginning of the opera) but they are relatively short lived. This is listenable and becomes more so as the work progresses.Callas was undoubtedly the grand mistress of the role of Norma, as she was of Tosca. But Cigna--like Sutherland--also brings something special to this role. Her pairing with Castagna is fabulous and hair-raising. But so too is Cigna's *other* great "Norma" recorded just a month later (and into the summer) with the stunning Ebe Stignani as Adalgisa! That Cetra recording (Gui 1937), made in the studio, is another must have recording in even better sound. These two 1937 "Normas" are more fodder for the perennial debate of the excitement of live versus the perfection of studio opera.If you love "Norma," you probably already have Sutherland and at least two Callas performances. Get both the live and studio "Normas" recorded in 1937 starring Cigna and the best Italian voices then singing on both sides of the Atlantic.

Okay, I'll admit, I'm an opera novice, despite advanced in years. My knowledge is mostly confined to Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on Public Radio; where I met. and enjoyed Norma. Nevertheless, this 1955 performance, with Maria Callas in title roll, blows that Met performance out of the water. Ever with suspect recording-mixing capabilities, given 60+ years from date of performance, this recording confirms all the hype about Callas. Two thumbs up, from an amateur fan.

While the mono sound on this issue isn't the best, it's perfectly listenable and one soon forgets the hiss and distortion once one is drawn into the stellar characterisations by four artists all in their prime. I still would not dispense with the 1960 studio recording in favour of this, as Callas' singing there is almost as good technically despite some flap in the top notes and there are many compensating subtleties of inflection plus the advantages of excellent stereo sound, Corelli's thrilling Pollione, Ludwig's glamorous Adalgisa, the same sonorous Oroveso from Zaccaria and experienced, sympatheic direction from Serafin. Similarly, I very much enjoy the live RAI broadcast (from the same year as this Milan performance, also with Del Monaco in sterling form and directed by Serafin) which is in marginally clearer, cleaner sound. So, I'm greedy; I want to have all three and find different virtues in them all. Having said that, this performance probably enshrines the best of all Callas' many assumptions of this role and Simionato's Adalgisa, in particular, is a performance to treasure. Del Monaco is a real helden-Pollione but not brutal or insensitive, nor necessarily inferior to Corelli's equally virile Roman in the studio recording. Votto is a relaxed, pliant accompanist, reluctant to impose himself upon four such experienced and musical soloists (and the supporting roles are well taken, too). In the end, there's no complete recorded performance - not Sutherland, not Caballe, good as they are - to touch Callas', and you must have one or two of the three under discussion here. (The first Cetra Callas "Norma" sees her partnered by indifferent singers and she has yet to deepen her characterisation.)

Despite the fact that I am an Australian and have actually heard Dame Joan Sutherland sing Norma live at the Sydney Opera House, my loyalty in this piece remains forever with Callas. (Ponselle was probaly greater but she was very staid in the studio - everybody seemed to be in those days - and there is no live recording of her). Callas was a singing actress and she learnt to act with her voice so well that you can get the drama even on record. Her diction is superb and her use of the words to telling effect is first class.The two studio recordings are flawed. The first one has inferior sound and inferior co-stars. The second has Corelli (fabulous - the best on record) but the Adalgisa is a little cold for my taste and the vocal production from Callas is frequently strained, sometimes ugly. Her performance on that second studio recording has great strengths as well, but flaws.In this live recording the voice is very solid and her performance is superb. Her co-stars are worthy of her if not in her league (who was? Di Stefano ? maybe).I have listened to and attended many a disappointing performance of Norma, mostly because I have been spoiled by listening to this. Be prepared for the fact that it's a live recording, but like her live Traviatas, it's worth the distractions.

Truly a magnificent live performance by the greatest Norma of the 20th century. A million thanks to all the people who helped preserve the recorded performance for us, now and future generations.