Bellini - Norma / Sutherland · Caballé · Pavarotti · Ramey · WNO · Bonynge

Sutherland's Norma offers ravishingly beautiful tone at a pitch where most soprano voices get thin, exquisite grace and agility in the elaborate ornamentation that characterizes bel canto style, and freedom from strain no matter what kind of vocal acrobatics a composer may demand. What one misses here is the heightened drama, the precise delineation of character and emotion, and the verbal mastery of Callas. Sutherland's voice--the main reason for wanting to hear this recording--is perhaps a shade less fresh in this 1984 performance than when she recorded her first Norma 20 years earlier, but she still has all the grace, all the high notes, and most of the power that earned her the Italian nickname "La Stupenda." She heads an all-star cast that lives up to its reputation, and her husband's conducting is more impressive than it was in 1964. --Joe McLellan