Norma Is the Dec. 16, 2017, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Dec. 16, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Norma by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini.

American operatic soprano Angela Meade and American operatic mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton reprise their 2013-2014 Met Opera season roles as Druid priestesses Norma and Adalgisa for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season's Saturday matinee broadcast Dec. 16, 2017: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Oct. 25, 2013

Norma by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835) is the Dec. 16, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

The setting for Norma is a Druid forest in Iron Age Gaul, a region of Western Europe largely inhabited by Celtic tribes. The timeline is the beginning of the Roman Empire’s occupation of Gaul, near the end of the first millennium BCE.

The three-act opera begins at 1 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). Its run time is estimated at 3 hours 4 minutes. Act I spans 89 minutes. An intermission of 30 minutes precedes the last act. Act II lasts for 65 minutes.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season offers 12 performances of Norma. The Saturday matinee radio broadcast is the production’s closing performance.

Joseph Colaneri conducts the Saturday matinee broadcast’s performance. The American conductor debuted Nov. 18, 2000, at the Metropolitan Opera in La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

This season, Joseph Colaneri shares Norma’s conducting podium with Carlo Rizzi. The Italian conductor’s birthplace is Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. He debuted Oct. 29, 1993, at the Metropolitan Opera also in Puccini’s La Bohème. This season, Maestro Rizzi also conducts Puccini’s Turandot.

Angela Meade appears in the title role of the Druids’ conflicted high priestess for the Saturday matinee. The American operatic soprano was born in Centralia, Lewis County, southwestern Washington. She debuted March 21, 2008, at the Metropolitan Opera as Elvira in Ernani by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). This season, she also performs the title role in Semiramide by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

This season, Angela Meade shares the role of Norma with Sondra Radvanovsky and Marina Rebeka.

Sondra Radvanovsky’s birthplace is Berwyn, Cook County, northeastern Illinois. The American-Canadian soprano debuted Dec. 9, 1996, at the Metropolitan Opera as Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Marina Rebeka was born in Riga, Latvia. The Latvian opera, song and concert soprano debuted Oct. 13, 2011, at the Metropolitan Opera as Donna Anna in Met Opera’s new production of Don Giovanni by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Jamie Barton performs as Adalgisa, rival for the affections of Norma’s Roman lover, for the Saturday matinee broadcast performance of Norma. The American mezzo-soprano’s birthplace is Rome, Floyd County, northwestern Georgia. She debuted Sept. 23, 2009, at the Metropolitan Opera as the second of three ladies in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

This season, Jamie Barton shares the role of Adalgisa with Joyce DiDonato. The American operatic lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano was born in Prairie Village, Johnson County, northeastern Kansas. She debuted Nov. 2, 2005, at the Metropolitan Opera in the trouser role of Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. This season, Joyce DiDonato also performs the title role in Cendrillon by French Romantic Era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912).

Joseph Calleja appears as Pollione, Norma’s Roman lover who decides to share a death leap with the Druids’ high priestess. The Maltese tenor’s birthplace is Attard in Malta’s Central Region. He debuted Oct. 25, 2006, at the Metropolitan Opera as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Matthew Rose performs as Oroveso, Chief of the Druids and Norma’s father, for the Saturday matinee broadcast. The English operatic bass was born in Brighton, East Sussex, South East England. He debuted Nov. 18, 2011, at the Metropolitan Opera as Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème. Matthew Rose reprises his debut role for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s production of La Bohème.

This season, Matthew Rose shares the role of Oroveso with Vazgen Gazaryan. The Armenian bass’s birthplace is Yerevan, central Armenia. Vazgen Gazaryan’s solitary performance, on Monday, Oct. 16, marks his Metropolitan Opera debut.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premieres a new production, directed by Scottish opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar. Sir McVicar’s production team comprises Richard Jones, set designer; Moritz Junge, costume designer; Paule Constable, lighting designer.

English set designer Robert Jones had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Sep. 26, 2011, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena.

German costume designer Moritz Junge debuted April 14, 2015, for the Metropolitan Opera’s new productions of Cavalleria Rusticana by Italian composer Pietro Mascagni (Dec. 7, 1863-Aug. 2, 1945) and Pagliacci by Italian opera composer Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919).

British lighting designer Paule Constable debuted April 11, 2008, in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of Satyagraha by American composer Philip Glass (born Jan. 31, 1937).

Norma is performed as the third of the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 23 Saturday matinee broadcasts. The season’s second Saturday matinee broadcast was an English language, family friendly version of Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). The Magic Flute aired Saturday, Dec. 9, at 12:30 p.m.

The season’s fourth Saturday matinee broadcast is Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. The Figaro-themed opera is scheduled for Dec. 23, at 1 p.m.

Norma is the 47th most performed opera, according to the Metropolitan Opera's 2016 Repertory Report. Performance statistics for 330 operas through Oct. 31, 2016, tally 156 performances of Bellini’s Druid-themed opera between first performance, Feb. 27, 1890, and the report's last reported performance, Nov. 1, 2013.

Operabase, an online database, rates Vincenzo Bellini as the 18th most popular composer in a worldwide ranking of 1,281 composers for the five seasons from 2011-2012 to 2015-2016. Norma holds 42nd place in a worldwide list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The takeaway for Norma as the Dec. 16, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is that the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s third Saturday matinee broadcast debuts a new production of Bellini’s Druid versus Roman-themed tragic opera.

Bellini's Norma opens the 2017-2018 Met Opera season: METOperaChoristers @MetOperaChorus via Twitter July 31, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

American operatic soprano Angela Meade and American operatic mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton reprise their 2013-2014 Met Opera season roles as Druid priestesses Norma and Adalgisa for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season's Saturday matinee broadcast Dec. 16, 2017: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Oct. 25, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10153388024970533/

Bellini's Norma opens the 2017-2018 Met Opera season: METOperaChoristers @MetOperaChorus via Twitter Aug. 1, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MetOperaChorus/status/892157066055438336

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Marriner, Derdriu. "2017-2018 Met Opera Season Opens Sept. 25 With Bellini's Norma." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 18, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-2018-met-opera-season-opens-sept.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “The Magic Flute Is Dec. 9, 2017, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-magic-flute-is-dec-9-2017-met-opera.html

METOperaChoristers @MetOperaChorus. "We're back to work today @MetOpera -- starting off with #Norma . . . looking forward to opening night on Sept. 25th!" Twitter. Aug. 1, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOperaChorus/status/892157066055438336

Metropolitan Opera. "Sondra Radvanovsky and Sir David McVicar on the Met's New Production of Norma." YouTube. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCAo2rIf3nc

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Alex Ross: 'Angela Meade and Jamie Barton both delivered tremendous performances in last night's Norma....To see these young artists reveling together in their voices makes you believe unswervingly in the future of the art.' http://bit.ly/1a58APc See them in Norma on Monday: http://bit.ly/18FRclE." Facebook. Oct. 25, 2013.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10153388024970533/

"New Production Norma." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356744 New Production Norma {157} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/25/2017, Metropolitan Opera Radio Sirius XM channel 75 Broadcast live. Streamed at metopera.org Times Squarecast. (Opening Night {133} Peter Gelb General Manager. Debuts: Christopher Reynolds, John Reynolds. Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast). Metropolitan Opera House. September 25, 2017 Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast. Opening Night {133} Peter Gelb, General Manager. New Production.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356744

"Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

“Vincenzo Bellini: Norma.” Metropolitan Opera > On Stage 2017-2018.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/norma-bellini-tickets/