Norma, Opera Ireland November 2003

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When Opera Ireland announced that they were to perform a concert production of Norma in Dublin, my welcome for the project was qualified. That one of the most acclaimed of all operas was to be produced locally was a cause of great anticipation. That the ghosts of many opera careers have found in Norma their Acheron tempered any fervent enthusiasm for the prospect. Thanks to an ongoing programme of government parsimony to the art we have little enough opera in Dublin, and we could ill afford to have any ardent zealots for the cause fall on the sword of a weak Norma. The risk in the undertaking was substantial.

Thus it was with a sense of apprehension that I went to The Gaiety on Saturday last for Opera Irelands final performance of Norma. Regina Nathan was the fearless soprano who, in undertaking so demanding a role, risked comparisons with the greats: Callas, Sutherland, Caballé and others. The shallow stage was delimited by austere black partitions. To the rear was a slightly raised platform, to the front, four simple music stands. Someone asked for minimalism, and then took even that away.

The lights went down. Laurent Wagner, the new principal of the RTE Concert Orchestra, initiated this most holy of rituals. His conducting was animated and he exercised a precise control over every player. From the first to the last, Wagner sweated every note from each instrument, and at the conclusion he justifiably relished the result of his exertions.

Preceded by some glorious choruses from the dress-suited Druids and all-black Priestesses of the National Chamber Choir, Norma made her entrance to cut the holy mistletoe. To come onto stage and launch almost immediately into one of operas best known lyrical arias is a daunting task. There was a conspicuous tension in the house. The blatant sense of expectation added to the already taut atmosphere. The success of the rest of the night surely rested on her execution of the ‘Casta Diva’. Norma looked very self-conscious as Wagner and the flautist guided her in. Her performance was absolutely hypnotic. She dominated the stage- it was as if she were singing only to me. Her execution was beautiful and full of understated charisma; the demanding coloratura was a dazzling success. An enthusiastic round of applause marked the audiences appreciation that this was going to be no second-rate Norma. A thrilling night was in prospect. This taxing aria now complete, Regina relaxed a little.

Through the rest of the evening, Norma was tender and dramatic. The depth of feeling that Regina brought to the role was exquisite – her intuitive empathy with Adalgisa’s dilemma was perfectly judged. She realised a menacing rage on grasping Pollione’s treachery. Consumed with fury, this was a woman you would not dare cross. Ultimately, her nobility when confronted with the most compromising of betrayals was superbly expressed in tone and in manner. The emotional and dramatic aspects of the role were amplified by what might have deceptively appeared to be the constraints of a concert performance.

With a strong cast, Patricia Fernandez as Adalgisa, Carlo Cigni as Orovese and Keith Olsen as Pollione, the luscious ensemble pieces were all a resounding success. However, there is no doubt that the nights emphatic triumph was down to the spellbinding performance of Regina Nathan, who undertook so great a risk in singing this role. Congratulations to her and to everyone else involved.