The MusicWeb Message Board: Re: Ralph Moore's Survey of Norma

I have listened to excerpts on YouTube, Stephen, and find little about Marina Rebeka's voice to make me alter comments I made about her "La vestale":"Marina Rebeka is entirely competent but as I remarked in my reviews of her recital albums Spirito and Amor fatale, there is to her singing a certain faceless quality, both tonally and interpretatively, especially compared with her illustrious predecessors. When all is said and done, she does not have a particularly beautiful voice, especially when it is under pressure." I find her top notes especially very squally in the "Norma" arias and feel no desire to listen to more - sorry. Like you, I'll stick with Callas and Sutherland.

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Ralph,

I was wondering if you've heard the not-so-recent recording with Marina Rebeka. I was very curious about it when it was released last spring, but I was put off by how expensive it was. I later found that Marina Rebeka has made the complete recording available on her YouTube channel. Although that's not my preferred method for listening to music, I listened to it at that time. I’ve just heard it for a second time. Although I enjoyed it enough for a second round, I'm pleased that I didn't need to pop out over $60 US for it.

Rebeka is at her best from "In mia man" through the finale. Unfortunately, the declamatory tone of "Sediziose voci" is carried over into "Casta diva." I thought the rest of the cast are good, if not remarkable. I found no reason to prefer this over many of the other recordings of “Norma” in my collection.

Although the recording uses the new critical edition published by Ricordi, it makes no pretentions to an attempt at “historical accuracy” in casting. Adalgisa is sung by a mezzo, Karine Deshayes, and the repertory of the tenor who sings Pollione, Luciano Ganci, tends towards verismo and late Verdi. The sung text in the critical edition is remarkably similar to what you'd hear in the first Sutherland recording:

"Casta diva" sung in G rather than F (Sills recorded it in this key, too)

A strophe for Adalgisa in the first movement of the first act trio finale (Sutherland does sing Adalgisa's music here where the line lies higher than Norma's)

The "maggiore" section from the overture repeated as the conclusion of the "Guerra! Guerra!" chorus. This can be heard on many other recordings.

These are the parts of the critical edition that are specifically called out in the booklet. However, there's another variation that can be heard only in this recording and Sutherland's first: Norma has a repeat of her verse in "Ah, si fa core" after Adalgisa has sung her verse.

I make no comparisons to the Bartoli version of "Normina" because it's so mannered and bizarre.

I'll still go to Callas’s second or Sutherland’s first when I want to hear "Norma."