1937 1972 1975
Cigna Sutherland Hunter
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| Norma | |||||||||||||||
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| Bellini | |||||||||||||||
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| SFO Normas of the Past
1937 1972 1975 Cigna Sutherland Hunter |
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| 1937-Gina Cigna is the only Norma on disk who is a direct inheritor of the original Marchesi-Garcia tradition traceable back to Bellini's own day; her fine dramatic interpretation and dark vocal persona certainly reflect this heritage in a compelling and impassioned reading. (Source) (cast) | |||||||||||||||
| SFO History Note: Cigna, a powerful (if variable) artist was the Norma opposite Martinelli's cultivated Pollione when Bellini's riot of bel canto was given for the first time in San Francisco Opera history. | |||||||||||||||
| 1972- Norma was one of Joan Sutherland�s most acclaimed roles and one that she sang on stage numerous times throughout her long and distinguished career.(Source) (cast) | |||||||||||||||
| SFO History Note: Norma returned in a new production designed by Josi/Jose Varona and dominated by a great sculpture, shell-lie oak with larg fingers reachin out (fatefullY?) over the principals. Joan Sutherland in the title role on the first night: she took her final calls in an undisguised state of tearfullness, brought on in part, one suspects by the fact that the tiny child playing one of Norma's children was so sweet and full of fun, that everyone's heart was lost to him. John Alexander's piny, arrogant Pollione hit the mart, but Huguette Touraugeau's slightly uncertain Adalgisa, which married sudden blasts of chest ton, didn't really rise above medium. | |||||||||||||||
| 1975-Rita Hunter was one of the most celebrated yet unjustly underrated of the large ladies of the opera house. Her soprano was voluminous, rock-steady throughout the range and had a slightly metallic edge reminiscent of her one-time teacher, Eva Turner. For all its Wagnerian power, her voice was always flexible and agile, enabling her to sing Norma and such Mozart roles as Donna Anna and Marcellina with impressive ease. (Memoriam)(cast) | |||||||||||||||