Norma Tickets

Norma (1831) is unquestionably one of Bellini´s great operas, and one of the finest in the bel canto repertory and the entire history of opera. Felice Romani —a frequent associate of his— based his libretto on Norma ou l´Infanticide, a tragedy by Alexandre Soumet which had met with great success in Paris not long before. The libretto gives two themes from classical tradition a Romantic updating: the priestess who breaks her vows for the sake of love (Spontini´s La Vestale, 1807) and revenge through infanticide (Cherubini´s Medea, 1797). A precedent for the setting —the Druids of ancient Gaul and a priestess´s love for a Roman soldier— is to be found in an episode from Chateaubriand´s Les Martyrs (1809).