I enjoyed the opera last night. It's not an opera I'd go out of my way to see again but much of the music is beautiful. I'd certainly listen to it again.
At root Norma is a love triangle story. A Druid priestess (Norma) has been having a long, secret love affair with a Roman soldier (the enemy), bearing him two kids. But he's switched his affections to a younger model, who confesses her own crisis of heart to Norma, who in turn releases her from her vows. Then Norma discovers it's her guy who's the love interest -- and, of course, all hell breaks loose.
There's a moment near the end of this story when the soldier, witnessing Norma's sacrifice, comes to his senses and realizes how much he has lost: and many in the audience laughed. This is not the intended response but does suggest how difficult it is to sell an extreme melodramatic story today -- though audiences lap up this sort of thing on TV "news" all the time (and especially recently).
The highlights of this production were the two women, and the several scenes in which they sing together stole the show. The one word I'd use to describe this opera is "pretty."
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My wife and I also saw Norma on Thursday. Our enjoyment was slightly interrupted at one point by a persistent cell phone behind us.
I thought that Brenda Harris was outstanding. Compare her to Callas:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=MM3xE9f6LrE
We heard this area last weekend at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in Meany Hall in Seattle where the winner, Angela Meade, sang it as one of her arias -- and did a great job. Angela won in Portland last fall.
Heath Rush who sang the role of Flavio in the Portland Opera production also competed in Seattle but didn't win any prizes. I think he has a future in opera, however.
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