The Metropolitan Opera: Norma

Bellini’s masterpiece boasts one of the most famous arias in all of opera, the beautiful “Casta diva.” Directed by Sir David McVicar, this evocative new production sets the action deep in a Druid forest, where nature and ancient ritual rule.

The priestess Norma is torn between loyalty to her oppressed people and love for a Roman soldier. On the eve of a Druid revolt, she must choose between two agonising betrayals—only to learn that she herself has already been betrayed. Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma and Joyce DiDonato as her rival Adalgisa lead a cast of bel canto heavyweights, with Joseph Calleja as Norma’s unfaithful lover, Pollione, and British favourite Matthew Rose returning to the Met as Norma’s father, Oroveso.