After the success of Il barbiere di Siviglia, which marked his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2021, Michele Mariotti returns to Vienna to conduct Bellini’s Norma in a new production directed by French stage director Cyril Teste. The opera will begin itsrun on Saturday, February 22, 2025, with the premiere already sold out.
Musical director of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Mariotti will conduct the Orchestra and Chorus of the Vienna State Opera in one of the absolute masterpieces of belcanto, a work he previously conducted at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 2013, with Mariella Devia in her debut in the title role, and later in 2022 in a concertversion at the Concertgebouw with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. Furthermore, on March 1, 2025, Mariotti will return to Amsterdam to conduct a symphonic concert with the Dutch orchestra and violinist Randall Goosby.
«Norma is a triumph of emotions and torments described by the fierce classicism of the music – says Michele Mariotti. In my view, there are two moments that make it an opera of shocking modernity: the duet between the two sopranos whounknowingly experience and relive the same emotions of love for the same man (I specifically chose a soprano for Adalgisa so that the magic of the two voices could blend almostindistinguishably), and the first-act finale, which ends with a trio formedby Pollione and the two rivals in love. These are feelings that move along the unusual tracks of intimate everyday life, avoiding easy theatricalspectacle».
The cast includes Federica Lombardi in the title role, Juan Diego Flórez as Pollione, Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Oroveso, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya as Adalgisa, and Anna Bondarenko and Hiroshi Amako as Clotilde and Flavio, respectively. Also involvedare Valérie Grall for set design, Marie La Rocca for costumes, and Julien Boizard for lighting. Choreography is by Magdalena Chowaniec, and video projections are by Mehdi Toutain-Lopez and Nicolas Doremus. The Chorus is prepared by Martin Schebesta.
A general rehearsal open to audiences under 27 is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. Performances willfollow on March 3, 6, 9, and 12, 2025. The March 15 performance and subsequent shows on May 16, 20, 23, and 26 will be conducted by Antonino Fogliani. The May performances will feature a cast starring Lidia Fridman as Norma and Freddie De Tommaso as Pollione.