Bellini: Norma

Cecilia Bartoli presents Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma” like you have never heard it before – a new complete studio recording of one of the most iconic operas in music history, in its original form. For generations Bellini’s “Norma” has been looked at from the vantage point of the Verismo era at the beginning of the twentieth century. Now Cecilia Bartoli unveils the opera’s original pre-Romantic style and colour by taking Norma back to its roots. For the first time ever the entire music is recorded with period instruments from Bellini’s time. Traditional cuts are reinstated. Keys and tonalities are put back into place and the music is executed according to Bellini’s own tempo indications. A new critical music edition was compiled from the autograph score and many manuscript sources. The Times 24th May 2013 **** “Wonderfully acrobatic, Bartoli’s warm voice is neatly complemented by the silver-streaked Adalgisa of the South Korean Sumi Jo...Osborn’s evenly flowing tenor makes Pollione a plausible babe magnet, even to Druids...Rustic winds, resinous strings, tart brass and shivering percussion all add dramatic colouring to Bellini’s magnificent music...Pin back your ears and enjoy.” The Independent 1st June 2013 “The timbres of Orchestra La Scintilla are enchanting, the chorus robust, the whole admirably paced by conductor Giovanni Antonini.” The Guardian 13th June 2013 *** “Its principal revelations lie in the orchestral sound, stark and abrasive rather than comfortingly smooth, Giovanni Antonini's urgent conducting, and, above all, in Jo's immensely touching depiction of ruined innocence” Gramophone Magazine July 2013 “Bartoli floats soprano-range notes but with a mezzo timbre that suits the priestess Norma's age...under Antonini's volatile direction the lean penetrating sonority of the orchestra makes a good case for the score's big effects...All too rarely, though, does Bartoli spin a lyric line with simple expressiveness...But Bartoli is the best current Norma out there.” International Record Review July/August 2013 “Despite using period instruments, the orchestra never sounds undernourished...Bartoli is, most assuredly, Bartoli, and if you are allergic to her in general, you will remain so...Yet you will hear things in her performance that will illuminate aspects of the character as never before...it is a pleasure to hear [the opera] stripped and clear.” BBC Music Magazine August 2013 *** “The result [of a mezzo Norma] is creditable and often expressive, but artistically compromised...while from a purely vocal point of view it sometimes sounds a struggle. Sumi Jo has greater success with Adalgisa, her light, fluttery soprano nicely matching the innocence of Norma's rival...chorus and period-instrument orchestra are excellent.” MusicWeb International 25th July 2013 “Think you know Norma? Think again...It is, in fact, the orchestra who are the biggest surprise - and in many ways the biggest asset - of the recording. ...Bartoli herself is never less than commanding in the title role...However, I was never entirely convinced that she was seeing the role from the inside...Sumi Jo, however, is a delightful Adalgisa.” Opera Britannia 24th May 2013 “it redefines the work both in terms of sound and in appropriate casting...At the end of [her first] scene I was already convinced that Bartoli could convince as Norma on her own terms both on CD and, given the right collaborators, in the theatre...[Jo] is probably the most convincing Adalgisa of my recent experience....essential listening for any lover of bel canto.”