The moon from Lohengrin has come back for an encore.
What rituals might be going on behind the drapery to shrink the moon and transform the stage into a forest full of druids and priestesses? A last minute vocal warm up maybe, a loose stitch secured, a case of butterflies let loose, a Hercules who pulls the rope to raise the curtain, but probably just press a button.
There is magic in the orchestra for sure, it hides in the flute.
Melody after melody consumes the nightly forest and deep cavern. A hole in the ceiling is our only access the moon and stars. The real world is centuries away.
Two Roman soldiers outside have infiltrated this nordic land and the world of the stage gets complicated in many ways as Romans are want-to-do.
Their sandals tread heavy on magic soil.
When the aria “Casta Diva” begins, the audience collectively hold there breath and lean in, then the flute releases its spell and fills the hall until Sonya Yoncheva sings. It stills my heart to hear so much beauty, yet also hear so much conflict beneath it.
Norma is a woman with loves and loyalties that don’t jive, who’s decisions effect not only the lives of her people, but also her children (whose father is a Roman soldier). She is a complex character who wrestles the entire opera with the tension between what she wants to do and what she must do and melody pulls us along for the journey.
She will clip the mistletoe and address the Gods; then stun us with a selfless outcome that belies earlier predicators in the story and tropes from the genre of opera.
The moon eyes it all:
Stage magic.
Heart magic.
love magic.
What is magic? Change in an instant? An immediacy of intent? An outcome that transcends prior experience?
To flaunt the energy of human hubris beneath a dead moon is magic.
In the long view of the universe; being is magic.
Breathing is magic.
Listening to a centuries old opera with the highest caliber musicians on the planet with someone I care about, is magic.
So What’s Norma all About? Romans have conquered the Gauls who are planning to rise against their conquerers with the help of their high priestess. Norma, the high priestess is in love with the Roman soldier Pollione and bears his two children. Pollione however is now in love with her servant Adalgisa. Will Norma betray her people? Will she murder the children in revenge like in Madea? Will she murder her friend and confidant? Ultimately the drama is about the conflict between self and community.
Notes on the Production:
Composer……………….. Maurizio Benini
Conductor………………. Maurizio Benini
Norma…………………… Sonya Yoncheva
Oreveso…………………. Christian Van Horn
Pollione…………………. Michael Spyres
Flavio……………………. Yongzhao Yu
Adalgisa………………… Ekaterina Gubanova
Clotilde…………………. Brittany Olivia Logan
3/11/23
Met Opera