Bellini - Norma / Joan Sutherland, Margreta Elkins, Ron Stevens, Clifford Grant, Richard Bonynge, Opera Australia

It was well done, but Joan was too old for the part. Her singing was outstanding

First off, regarding the other reviewer's questions, no, his copy was not an anomaly, the sound quality is very inconsistent on this release, requiring the viewer to constantly fiddle with the volume, a major annoyance to be sure. But this is not the first time I have encountered this problem with productions from the '70's, and it in no way justifies a one star rating. Do I wish the sound quality were better? Absolutely. But am I glad I purchased the DVD despite its shortcomings? You bet. The performances are more than enough to counterbalance this flaw, particularly the performance of Joan Sutherland, the star of this(and any) show.Like the concurrent Kultur release of Delibes' Lakme, this is a Joan Sutherland showcase all the way. The production was done on her home turf, the Australian Opera, the conductor here is the diva's husband Richard Bonynge, and the supporting cast lacks any big names. The advantages of this production over Lakme(which by the way is also worth owning) are a better group of singers overall, and a better performance from Bonynge and his orchestra. The tenor Ronald Stevens has a stentorian voice, he is superior in the brasher moments than in the more lyrical ones, but his performance improves over the course of the opera, and by the end he has proven himself a worthy Pollione, masculine and divided and ultimately noble. Margreta Elkins is a remarkable Adalgisa, her voice is strong and lovely and emotional, and it mixes well with Sutherland's in their multiple duets, creating a perfect unity of beautiful female vocalism. As for Bonynge, he might not be a great conductor all the time, but his style is perfect for the raggedy sound of the hardcore bel canto repertory, and he and the orchestra manage to bring out both the lyricism and the bombast in perfectly measured doses.Which leaves us with Joan Sutherland. I am guessing that she was in her mid-fifties when this was recorded, but she shows no signs of vocal aging. Her singing is even more full-throttle than in Lakme, which was recorded a few years earlier. The biggest surprise, though, is her acting, which is often stilted, but here is brimming with life. She IS Norma...well, she had sung the role so many times prior to this, she must have had a lot of practice getting into the character, and, trust me, it shows. I felt for the heroine, not just because of the music, but because of Sutherland's presence, too.The production is old-fashioned but effective. I especially like the darkness of the sets, the stony medieval ominousness. The picture quality is decent. The visual transfer is definitely superior to the audio one.Norma is a good but not great opera. Some critics argue that if Bellini had lived longer, he might have achieved what Verdi achieved, but I see no evidence of this. Even very early Verdi, such as Nabucco and Ernani, shows an individuality of voice, a diversity of melody and musical ideas, and a youthful, restless emotional fervor lacking here. The music of Norma is consistently beautiful, but also a bit uniform and staid. Really, the only time it achives a Verdian moment of cathartic emotional release is the ending, which is quite powerful. Still, even very good bel canto is worth your attention, especially when it has great performers to do it justice. This Norma is elevated by the quality of its singers, particularly Joan Sutherland, one of the greatest "casta divas" of all time.

I purchased this for a school project. It served its purpose, I probably would not purchase this strictly for entertainment.

It';s the best of Sutherland. It is the ultimate challenge for the best of the best. Bravo! Enough said. More words?

I have the VHS tape and the sound is perfect. The DVD sound is not good. The volume changes from one minute to the next.It is not as clear as it should be. I also have the other DVD with Tatiana Troyanos. Dame Joan is in better voice than with Elkins.It's very disappointing. I was looking forward to this DVD.

Norma is my favourite opera together with lucia di lammermoor with Dame Joan Sutherland in the title roles and this dvd is great, i'm totally happy with it

Good cast. Good production.

La Stupenda is magnificent, but you can scarecly hear her or anything else including the six- person orchestra. The audio was a complete disappoinment, but it was lovely to look at until I just gave up and stopped watchiing about halfway through. I don't blame the seller, just the recording company and whoever limited the orchestra to the absolute minimum of musicians. I have cd recordings of Sutherland in this role, with full orchestras, and they all knock my socks off, but this was a complete waste. Horrible. I guess you could think of it as a moving poster, or a series of silent pictures, but not a good opera dvd.

Joan Sutherland sings "Norma" in her own wonderful way ..despite a cringe making setting with a passionless production and inexpert camera work. The music is as always wonderful and the orchestra in full sail.

Le dvd est bien arrivé en bon état et à la date prévue. J'ai apprécié écouter cet opéra sublime de Bellini interprété par des chanteurs et des acteurs exceptionnels.

Era esattamente quello che cercavo! :-) La descrizione era conforme a quello che realmente mi è arrivato a casa. Molto soddisfatto.

This opera is not in the public eye very often. It is a classic and well performed by Joan Sutherland.

excellent