Bellini: Norma (Critical Edition by Roger Parker) Marina Rebeka, Karine Deshayes, Luciano Ganci

• Felice Romani (1788 - 1865), Vincenzo Bellini (1801 - 1835): Norma, Act 1:
• 1 Romani, Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Sinfonia 05:38
• Vincenzo Bellini: Norma, Act 1:
• 2 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Ite sul colle, o Druidi 08:22
• 3 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Svanir le voci 03:00
• 4 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Meco all'altar di Venere 02:35
• 5 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Odi?... I suoi riti 01:34
• 6 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Me protegge, me difende 02:53
• 7 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Norma viene 04:10
• 8 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Sediziose voci 04:20
• 9 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Casta Diva 06:48
• 10 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Fine al rito 01:33
• 11 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Ah! bello a me ritorna 04:55
• 12 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Sgombra è la sacra selva 05:29
• 13 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Eccola! va, mi lascia 01:35
• 14 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Va, crudele 05:10
• 15 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Vieni in Roma 03:43
• 16 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Vanne, e li cela entrambi 04:31
• 17 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Adalgisa 03:29
• 18 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Oh! rimembranza! 04:48
• 19 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Ah! sì, fa core e abbracciami 03:46
• 20 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Ma dì... l'amato giovane 02:59
• 21 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Oh! di qual sei tu vittima 05:06
• 22 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Perfido! - Or basti 01:29
• 23 Bellini: Norma, Act 1: Vanne, si mi lascia, indegno 02:43
• Felice Romani , Vincenzo Bellini: Norma, Act 2:
• 24 Romani, Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Introduzione 04:56
• Vincenzo Bellini: Norma, Act 2:
• 25 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Dormono entrambi... 04:49
• 26 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Olà!... Clotilde! 00:49
• 27 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Me chiami, o Norma!... 02:41
• 28 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Deh! con te, con te li prendi... 03:30
• 29 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Mira, o Norma 03:38
• 30 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Cedi... deh! cedi 01:05
• 31 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Sì, fino all'ore estreme 02:01
• 32 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Non parti?... 04:27
• 33 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Guerrieri! a voi venirne 01:46
• 34 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Ah! del Tebro al giogo indegno 02:41
• 35 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Ei tornerà... 04:04
• 36 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Squilla il bronzo del Dio! 01:45
• 37 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Guerra, guerra! 01:50
• 38 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Né compi il rito, o Norma 03:53
• 39 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: In mia man alfin tu sei 05:32
• 40 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Gia mi pasco ne tuoi sguardi 02:21
• 41 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Dammi quel ferro! 03:34
• 42 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Qual cor tradisti, qual cor perdesti 04:58
• 43 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Norma!... deh! Norma! scolpati... 02:14
• 44 Bellini: Norma, Act 2: Deh! non volerli vittime 04:36
• Total Runtime 02:37:46

Info for Bellini: Norma (Critical Edition by Roger Parker)

An exceptional studio recording featuring Marina Rebeka, Karine Deshayes, Luciano Ganci, Marko Mimica, Anta Jankovska, and Gustavo De Gennaro. Conducted by John Fiore, with the Orquesta y Coro del Teatro Real, Madrid, this album presents a new critical edition of the opera, prepared by Roger Parker for Casa Ricordi.

The album includes a musicological essay and the full libretto in Italian and English. This recording offers a fresh perspective with Marina Rebeka’s performance of Norma’s challenging aria “Casta Diva” in G major, and features an alternate ending to the Act Two chorus that revives music from the Sinfonia. With these and other elements, this album brings new insights and colors to the beloved opera.

Notes on the new edition: "In the autograph, Norma's famous preghiera is written in G major, a key that would make extreme demands on most sopranos who sing the role. In this recording Marina Rebeka sings the aria in G major.

The final part of the Act One finale clearly underwent significant change, probably after the first performance; the first Ricordi vocal score and various manuscript sources have a different version of the last part of the number, with an altered disposition of the vocal parts, some variations in the melodic material and no choral intervention. This recording features the version with chorus.

[there is also the] alternative ending to the coro 'Guerra, Guerra' in Act Two. Although, again, the version in the autograph is likely to be Bellini's last thought on the matter, the alternative ending, with the return of music from the Sinfonia, opens up a vital new colour in the opera's final number, and this is the version used in the present recording." (Roger Parker)

Marina Rebeka, soprano
Karine Deshayes, mezzo-soprano
Luciano Ganci, tenor
Marko Mimica, bass-baritone
Anta Jankovska, soprano
Gustavo de Gennaro, tenor
Orchestra Teatro Real Madrid
John Fiore, conductor

Marina Rebeka
is one of the leading opera singers of our time.

Since her international breakthrough at the Salzburg Festival in 2009 under the baton of Riccardo Muti, Rebeka has been a regular guest at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and opera houses, including the Teatro alla Scala (Milan), the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (London), the Bavarian State Opera (Munich), the Vienna State Opera, and the Zurich Opera House.

She collaborates with leading conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Daniele Gatti. The variety of her repertoire ranges from Baroque, through bel canto and Verdi, to Tchaikovsky and Britten.

As an active and widely acclaimed concert performer, Rebeka has given recitals at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, such as the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, the Opernhaus Zürich, and others.

Rebeka’s discography includes releases with Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics (EMI), BR Klassik, and Naxos. She has recorded Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s arias, Amor Fatale (an album of Rossini’s arias), Verdi’s full opera Luisa Miller, and Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

On her own record label, Prima Classic, she has released the album Spirito (scenes and arias of the dramatic bel canto), Verdi’s opera La Traviata, and her solo albums Elle (French opera arias) and Credo (a selection of sacred and spiritual music). Rebeka also sang the role of Imogene in the recording of Bellini’s Il Pirata, an album released by Prima Classic that received the 2022 International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for opera recording of the year.

In December 2016, Rebeka was granted the Order of the Three Stars, the highest award of the Republic of Latvia, for her cultural achievements. In the 2017/18 season, she was named the first-ever artist in residence by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. In 2In December 2016, Rebeka was granted the Order of the Three Stars, the highest award of the Republic of Latvia, for her cultural achievements. In the 2017/18 season, she was named the first-ever artist in residence by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. In 2020, she received the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for artist of the year and the Latvian Ministry of Culture Award for Excellence. In 2021, she was awarded the first-ever Premio alla Carriera “Toti dal Monte”.

Karine Deshayes
Considered as one of the best singers of her generation, three times awarded best “Singer of the year” at the Victoire de la Musique, Karine Deshayes first joined the troupe of the Lyon Opera before to be invited by the more important opera houses. At the Paris Opera she successfully sang Mozart roles (Cherubino, Dorabella, Donna Elvira), Rossini roles (Angelina, Rosina, Elena), but also Poppea (Incoronazione di Poppea), Romeo (I Capuleti e I Montecchi), Charlotte (Werther), Carmen and Urbain (Les Huguenots). She sang the title-roles of Rossini’s Armida (at the Montpellier Opera) and Semiramide (at the Saint-Etienne Opera), Gluck’s Alceste at the Lyon Opera, Elvira (Malibran version of Puritani) at the Festival of Radio France and Montpellier, Marguerite (Damnation de Faust) in Nice Opera and at the Paris Philharmonie.

Outside France, she sang at the Salzburg Festival (Die Zauberflöte under Riccardo Muti), Theâtre de La Monnaie (Marie de l’Incarnation in Dialogues des Carmélites), the Liceu in Barcelona (the title role of Massenet’s Cendrillon), the Teatro Real Madrid (Adalgisa in Norma) in San Francisco (La Cenerentola) and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Siébel in Faust, Isolier in Le Comte Ory, Nicklausse/La Muse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann under James Levine and Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette).

More recently she sang Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) at the Chorégies d’Orange, Charlotte (Werther) at the Toulouse Théâtre du Capitole, Adalgisa (Norma) at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Elena (La Donna del Lago) and Balkis (Gounod’s Reine de Saba) at the Marseille Opera, Angelina (Cenerentola) at the Paris Theâtre des Champs Elysées, Liege royal Opera and the Theatro Real Madrid.

She also has a huge success in the title role of Rossini’s Elisabetta Regina d’Inghilterra at the Pesaro Festival, Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena) at the Zürich Opera and in concert at the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Valentine (Les Huguenots) at the Royal Theater of la Monnaie and in the title role of Norma at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, Elisabetta (Elisabetta Regina d’Inghilterra) in Marseille.

Among her future projects, la Comtessa (Nozze di Figaro) at the Toulouse Theatre du Capitole, Médée (Lully’s Thésée) in concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées the Brussels Bozar and at the Theater an der Wien, Adalgisa (Norma) in Hamburg, Valentine (Les Huguenots) at the Marseille Opera.

Luciano Ganci
Born in Rome, Luciano Ganci started studying music in the CAPPELLA MUSICALE PONTIFICIA SISTINA directed by Mo. Domenico Bartolucci. He studied piano and organ with D. Mitaritonna, D. Agostino and P.R. Preite.

Since 2006 he started studying Opera singing. From 2008 he studied and improved with Maestro Otello Felici in Rome, Francesca Patanè and Marco Chingari.

Beside his musical studies, he obtained the Geometry Diploma and, later, he studied Civil Engineering, graduating in Urban and Regional Planning.

Winner of several competitions, such as Ottavio Ziino, Rolando Nicolosi, the "Young Tenors Selection" organized by the Associazione Franco Corelli as well as winner of the competition Iris Adami Corradetti and of the Premio Internazionale Giuseppe Verdi as Young promise of opera of 2010. He has been also a semi-finalist of the prestigious Operalia contest of Plácido Domingo.

In 2009, he fully undertook the soloist career. After a brief experience with minor roles in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and GIANNI SCHICCHI, he sang REQUIEM and VESPERAE SOLENNES DE CONFESSORE by Mozart. He participated in October, along with José Carreras, in the Opera gala at the Second Award Pavarotti d'oro at the Teatro Asioli of Correggio (RE). In December he sang KRÖNUNGSMESSE by Mozart in the Cathedral of Milan under the baton of Claudio Scimone.

In 2010, it occurred his real operatic debut with the role of Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA at the Teatro Politeama in Palermo (Morandi - Maestrini). Later he debuted Rodolfo in LA BOHÈME at the Abu Dhabi Festival (Veronesi - Scaparro), and Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Queler - Ewitt) at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.

In 2011 was Rodolfo in LA BOHÈME (Attanasi) in Prague and Zlìn, Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Morandi - Cigni) at the Teatro Politeama of Palermo, and debuted the role of Oronte in I LOMBARDI ALLA PRIMA CROCIATA in Milan (Coladonato). The same year, in November, he debuted as Turiddu in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA (Upadhyaya - De Mattia) in New Delhi.

The year 2012 opened with the debut at the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg in the role of Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA (Hussain/Kelly - Gergen), debut that marked a turning point in his career. Soon after, in fact, he was called to retake the role of Alfredo at the Teatro Verdi of Salerno (K.L.Wilson - Stinchelli) and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Bisanti - R.di Meana). In May he was the protagonist in L'AMICO FRITZ by Mascagni at the Teatro Verdi of Trieste (Carminati - Salvo), where he later returned to play the role of Jesus in the Beethoven's oratory CHRISTUS AM ÖLBERGE, conducted by Wayne Marshall. In the same year, he sang several times Mozart's REQUIEM, and participated to the recording of a CD of previously unreleased tracks by Mascagni conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, published by Chandos. In November, he debuted as Manrico in IL TROVATORE at the Ravenna Festival (Pazkowsky - Muti).

In 2013, he debuted as Corrado in IL CORSARO by Giuseppe Verdi at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, under the conduction and the direction of Gianluigi Gelmetti at the opening of the opera season. He continued, in February, with MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the Teatro delle Muse of Ancona (Palumbo - Bernard), followed by the debut in Verdi's REQUIEM at the Cathedral of Udine, IL TROVATORE at the Teatro Comunale of Piacenza (Pazkowsky - Muti), IL CORSARO in Budapest (Montanaro), Pécs and Banska Bystrica and the debut in the role of Ismaele in NABUCCO at the Beijing NCPA (Kohn - Deflo). In the summer, MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the prestigious Theatre Herodes Atticus in Athens (Michailidis - De Ana). In September he sang Verdi's MESSA DA REQUIEM at the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome (Frajese) and in autumn a new debut as Foresto in Verdi's ATTILA, in Astana, at the World premiere of the opening of the Theatre in Kazakhstan (Gergiev - Pizzi). In November he was Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo (Beltrami - Pelly) and then again in Astana for ATTILA (Bohemians - Pizzi).

The 2014 resumed the scheme of the previous year, but on a larger scale. In January NABUCCO at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence (Palumbo - Muscato), in February he was engaged in MADAMA BUTTERFLY in Trieste (Renzetti - Ciabatti), in March he debuted with ATTILA at Marijinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg (Gergiev - Pizzi) and in April again MADAMA BUTTERFLY in Edmonton, Canada (Tweteen - Albery). In the same month he played again Ismaele in NABUCCO at Beijing NCPA (Zanetti - Deflo), where he remained to play in May the role of Manrico in IL TROVATORE (Lu Ja - De Ana). In June, he was engaged in the role of Foresto in ATTILA in Istanbul (Castriota) and in July it came the important debut in the role of Mario Cavaradossi in TOSCA at the Arena Sferisterio of Macerata (H.N.Kim - R. di Meana). It followed a new Verdi's debut in the role of Macduff in MACBETH at the Royal Opera House in Muscat (Renzetti - Brokhaus). In May, he played the role of Alfredo in LA TRAVIATA at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and, in the same month, he was Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY at the Teatro Verdi of Padua (Severini - Poda). In November he was engaged in two successful friendly concerts for the Classique Foundation of Gozo (Malta) at the Aurora Opera House, and then at the Erkel Színház Theater in Budapest, in honor of the 25 year career of the soprano Andrea Rost. In August he played the role of Rodolfo in LA BOHÈME at the Greek National Opera (Karytinos - Wertmüller), and he debuted in Beethoven's IX SYMPHONY conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti.

The year 2015 started with a recital for the prestigious season of the Oratory of the Gonfalon of Rome, in February he debuted at Teatro Comunale of Bologna with the role of Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Yoshida - Brunetti). In March, he sang in the MESSA DA REQUIEM by Giuseppe Verdi in Rome and Taranto, conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti and debuted at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in L'AMICO FRITZ (Battistoni). In April, he debuted with great success the role of Rodolfo in LUISA MILLER at the Budapest Spring Festival and later at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (Rustioni - De Rosa). In May, he debuted the role of Amenofi in MOSÈ by Rossini in Milan, in a production of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo with great public approval, alongside the famous bass Ruggero Raimondi (Quattrocchi). In June and July he sang in LA TRAVIATA in Japan, Hyogo Performing Art Center (Sado - Mortelliti). In October, he debuted in the role of Pollione in NORMA by Vincenzo Bellini at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Padua (Severini - Miccichè). In December, he played once again the role of Rodolfo in LA BOHÈME at the Opera Antwerpen in Belgium (Fogliani - Carsen).

2016 opened with two recitals in Rome and the role of Rodolfo in LA BOHÈME at the Opera Gent in Belgium (Fogliani - Carsen). In February he returned to the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples to play the role of Pollione in Bellini's NORMA (Nello Santi - Amato), and in March he played the role of Rodolfo in LUISA MILLER (Michailidis - Krief) at the Teatro Verdi of Trieste. In July, he returned at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples for MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Steinberg - Del Bono). In August and September, after two years, he was guest at Beijing NCPA for MACBETH by Giuseppe Verdi (Oren - De Ana). In October, a new role was added to his debuts, Carlo VII in GIOVANNA D'ARCO by Giuseppe Verdi at the Festival Verdi in Parma (Tebar – Boddeke & Greenaway). In November, it took place his operatic debut in Korea, in Seoul, in LA TRAVIATA (De Filippi - Brockhaus) and after that he was in Teatro alla Scala di Milano in MADAMA BUTTERFLY.

017 opened with LA BOHÈME in Salzburg, Haus für Mozart, then a new Verdi's debut in the role of Gustavo III in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA at the NCPA of Beijing (Palumbo - De Ana), and the role of Cavaradossi in TOSCA at Teatro Verdi of Trieste (Carminati - De Ana), Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine and Teatro Giuseppe Verdi of Pordenone. In August he played the MESSA DI GLORIA of Puccini, in October the Verdi's STIFFELIO (Calvo - Vick) with great success during the Festival Verdi in Parma 2017. In October, he sang for the opening night of the season of the Valencia's theater with MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Matheuz - Lopez).

He sang in concerts and recitals in Montreal and Edmonton (Canada), Bratislava (Slovakia), Lucerne (Switzerland), New Delhi (India), Prague (Czech Republic), Kobe (Japan), Yeosu (Korea), Naples, Perugia, Rome, Parma and Verona.

This album contains no booklet.