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The other Plymouth pilgrims

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I suppose in some ways Bellini’s I Puritani is the perfect bel canto opera.  It has lots of great tunes, a wicked coloratura soprano part and an utterly ridiculous plot (my comments on the plot can be found in my review of the Met/Netrebko recording) and, of course, a mad scene.  In this recording from Barcelona’s Liceu the soprano role of Elvira is taken by Edita Gruberova, surely one of the greatest ever in this genre.  At 54 she doesn’t look ideal for the young bride to be but she can act and she gives a master class in bel canto style. What she has to yield to Netrebko in terms of looks and physical commitment she makes up for in sheer technical prowess.

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de Bello Gallico

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Bellini’s Norma is a tale of illicit love between two Gaulish priestesses (can women be called druids?) and a Roman tribune.  In this 2006 production for the Bayerische Staatsoper director Jürgen Rose has set the piece in the present day in a vaguely Middle Eastern setting.  Within that framework the story is told quite straightforwardly and there’s no attempt to project some kind of agenda.  The designs are very striking.  Blue figures a lot.  Norma’s home is an underground bunker.  When the Gauls arm for war they put on ski masks and supplement their spears with assault rifles.  It all looks really good.  The acting is also excellent and we get some real intensity in the Norma/Pollione/Adalgisa love triangle and in the tension between Norma and her father Oroveso.  It works as drama.

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