Product Details

• Actors: Bellini, Cedolins, Ganassi, La Scola, Carella
• Directors: D'Augustino
• Format: AC-3, Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: German, English, Italian, French, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Arthaus Musik
• DVD Release Date: May 26, 2009
• Run Time: 169 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0020MST72
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,548 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent "Norma", June 6, 2009

By 

SILVIA COSTA (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bellini: Norma (DVD)

People who love opera know that "Norma" is a master piece of "Bel Canto", and one of the most beautiful operas ever composed. The singing is very demanding for the main roles, and it is very uncommon to find a performance in which all singers have good quality voices. If we look for "Norma" in Amazon's site, we can find about 10 DVD recorded before this one, and only two of them have been rated between 4 and 5 stars, Gruberova's and Caballe's "Normas". Although I agree with those rates, I must say that this new DVD is better than those ones in many ways:
a)the voices have been well chosen for all roles, and are well balanced among them;
b)the florid ornamentations and cadences, typical of "Bel Canto", are beautifully sung;
c)sound and image are extraordinarily good;
d)Fiorenza Cedolins's acting and pronunciation are outstanding;
e)chorus and orchestra are almost perfect.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you like your Norma sounding like Tosca....yes?, September 10, 2010

By 

Wayne Leigh (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bellini: Norma (DVD)

For those whom Puccini is considered as Bel Canto as Bellini, this Norma is for you. Indeed you might quite enjoy it, and think highly of it (evident from the previous reviews). However, Only Ganassi is recognizably Bellinian. Cedolins' coloratura, contrary to what other reviews said, is smudgy at best, and her phrasing is distorted. But recording is nonetheless no worse than those by Papian or Dessi, and does not stand up to comparison with the great and respectable Normas of the past - Callas, Sutherland, Caballe, even Scotto, Gencer, Deutekom, Bumbry, Verrett and Elinor Ross.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Historical Norma, first rate, March 13, 2010

By 

S. Hutton "Scott Hutton" (Hartsdale, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bellini: Norma (DVD)

I have been following performances of NORMA since Mme Callas' time and, make no mistake, this is a historical interpretation. Mme Cedolin, I'm sure, is the first singing actor to show just how much the energy of Medea flows through Norma. Not even Mme Callas went that far. Her acting is not only superior; it is definitive. Such meshing of body movements and music one can find only in the rare Callas footage.

I for one find her voice ideally suited to the role as she interprets it and that puts her right smack in the Callas current. We are blessed to know of it. No, it is not the most beatiful Norma I ever heard, but it is the most telling and convincing.

That said, her colleagues do not let her down, and her conductor is superb. This is a Norma to cherish.

I long ago stopped searching for the "ideal" Norma. Almost every version out there is fine, and one should really know them all.

This one is VERY special. I wish you its acquaintance.