In the enchanted environment of Olavinlinna castle, suspended in time, on the banks of lake Saimaa, I have the honour of closing the Savonlinna Opera Festival conducting a concert performance of Norma. Thus my immersion in the universe of Bellini (where everything is song or, rather, Belcanto and eternity) continues with Norma after the recent Sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera and I Puritani recently conducted at the Royal Opera House, London. In I Puritani and Norma, the voice and stagecraft of a primadonna like Lisette Oropesa, have tremendous allure, particularly so in this Norma, in which Lisette is making her role debut. But Norma, despite revolving around the protagonist, thanks to the absolute beauty of the role and the familiar historical reasons that have reinforced the legendary nature of this opera, remains an opera of great complexity, in which the music director must balance Belcanto composition in its purity with a tragic tension that is almost without parallel in 19th century theatre. Along with the Göteborg Opera Orchestra and the Göteborg Opera Chorus I intend to recreate a fully transparent orchestral texture in which moments of dark, lunar lyricism prepare for the tragedy that looms. This concert performance will give us the opportunity to concentrate on Bellini’s musical fine art, bringing out its lyrical rapture but also its classical visionary nature.
Performances on: 29 July & 1 August
📷 Olavinlinna Castle, photo courtesy of Savonlinna Opera Festival