I've mentioned I sort of like Norma, right?

Earlier this evening I mentioned I was seeking a heart-wrenching Norma performance.  Because I'm completely incapable of dealing with my own emotions, but boy howdy, can I identify with a Medieval Druid priestess!

Shut up!

I wound up with this video on YouTube:

Norma.  1967.  Berlin.  Elinor Ross.  Mario del Monaco.  And as Adalgisa, Giovanna Vighi, of whom we never hear in the US, but WOW!

OK, there were vocal flaws, and this was the park & bark era, and yes, Adalgisa did get lost during "Mira, o Norma", but really, how exciting is this?  VERY!

For the sake of discussion, let us take the following points:

• The opera is perfect.  Perfect.  I'll hear no arguments!  Messrs. Bellini and Romani have provided us with an amazing theatrical experience that includes solos, ensembles, choruses, and virgin sacrifices.  OK, maybe not the virgin sacrifices.  But the story line is amazing, the character development is spellbinding, and at the end there is not a single character we don't sympathize with.  Except for that bastard Pollione, perhaps.
• We leave thinking about about these characters. We're not just humming tunes, but we're wondering what happens to Norma's children and to Adalgisa.  We're wondering just how many young maidens Pollione has seduced before Norma, and between Norma and Adalgisa. Had he not done the uncharacteristically noble thing and accepted death on the funeral pyre, we'd still be wondering how many maidens he was seducing today!
• This opera has been the vehicle for countless amazing sopranos, and a few who were considered amazing until they tried it.  And each production has been the stuff of decades of gossip.  (I myself was in the chorus of a 1990 production in Miami with Carol Neblett as Norma.  I won't say any more.)  At least one soprano of current international fame was not a favorite of mine until I heard her conquer this role with complete confidence, technical ability, and dramatic certainty.  
• Of two things I am certain:  If you don't care about puppies and if you don't understand Norma, then we can't be friends.  OK, since Norma came into being in 1835, that might take some effort, so you'll get a temporary pass on that.  But the puppies are not negotiable.  I'm totally serious about that.

These are just a few thoughts.  I need more opera in my life.  If only there were a living in viewing and writing about opera!  As I recently posted, I'll be able to see the entire season at Opera Carolina, and I might be able to wangle tickets to other regional opera companies' productions as well.  (I did recently write of Opera Wilmington's very nice La Boheme.)