Vienna State Opera

Druids now also on the Ring: The match of the Normas

Scene from the new State Opera "Norma" with Federica Lombardi and her rifle at the helm.(Bild: (c) Wiener Staatsoper - Sofia Vargaiová)

After Asmik Grigorian's brilliant "Norma" at the Theater an der Wien, Federica Lombardi and Juan Diego Flórez disappoint in Cyril Testes' low-profile Bellini production at the State Opera.

The match between the two Normas is over: the grandiose Asmik Grigorian won hands down in Vasily Barkhatov's production at the Theater an der Wien against the State Opera's "Norma" by Federica Lombardi.

Anyone who remembers Renata Scotto, Montserrat Caballé or Edita Gruberova will wonder what the casting office was thinking. Lombardi's soprano lacks radiant power, fire in the coloratura, dramatic aplomb and the passion of a priestess humiliated by her husband Pollione, who has broken her vow of chastity.

A Norma in an ugly house dress, without pizzazz. Her aria "Casta diva" was pale and bland, the most convincing being her big scene with her rival Adalgisa, sung with great sensitivity by the young Russian mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya.

Asmik Grigorian triumphs as Norma at the Theater an der Wien.(Bild: Theater an der Wien/© Monika Rittershaus)

Theater an der Wien vs. the State Opera:

Staging:
Theater an der Wien: gripping drama in precise, coherent character direction / Vienna State Opera: old-fashioned standing on the ramp in strange costumes.

Cast:
Asmik Grigorian burns, loves, suffers magnificently - Federica Lombardi sings well-behaved, but hardly touches.

Overall impression:
Rousing musical theater as if under a burning glass vs. uninteresting opera play, miscast, lost in the big house.

Final score: 3 : 0

Federica Lombardi sings the Druid Priestess in the Staatsoper.(Bild: (c) Wiener Staatsoper/Michael Poehn)

There was a lot of booing for audience favorite Juan Diego Flórez, who sings Pollione, the Roman proconsul in Gaul, with fine bel canto, but without heroic radiance. Overall impression: with the exception of Ildebrando D'Arcangelo's Priest Oroveso, the roles were too lightly cast. Michele Mariotti proved to be a solid veteran on the podium of the State Opera Orchestra.

Director Cyril Teste, who was acclaimed, but just as fiercely booed, also offered a low-profile theater routine with many videos: a domestic marriage drama.

Stand-up theater with lots of hand-wringing, in which Norma goes to her death by fire at the finale - why Pollione doesn't follow her remains unclear. Valérie Grall created uninspired images, an all-purpose hall and a foggy forest.

Teste had Parisian perfumer Kurkdjian create a "Norma" fragrance that you can take with you in a plastic bag. I opened the plastic bag. Now it smells woody, earthy and musty. Do I now have the sacred forest of the druids at home? Or the stink of a Gallic village from around 100 AD?