Norma
PREMIERE
Stravinsky Hall
On the occasion of the 195th anniversary of the world premiere
Vincenzo Bellini
NORMA
The opera in two acts with intermission
Performed in Italian
The libretto by Felice Romani after the play of the same name by M. Belmonte and Alexandre Soumet
Director producer — Dmitry Bertman
Music Director and Conductor — Fabio Mastrangelo
Conductor — Filipp Selivanov
Stage Director — Ilya Ilin
Set designer — Rostislav Protasov
Costume designer — Rostislav Protasov
Lighting designer — Denis Enyukov
Video designer — Aleksandr Andronov
Choirmaster —Evgeny Ilin
Choreographer — Edwald Smirnov
Makeup designers — Natalia Blinkova, Maria Krysenkova
Poster's author – Ian Grada
The world premiere took place at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831.
The premiere at Helikon will take place on 25 November 2026.
16+
On November 25, the Helikon-opera theater will present for the first time one of the best operas of the world repertoire, V. Bellini's Norma. The premiere is dedicated to the 195th anniversary of the world premiere in Milan in December 1831.
The production is prepared by a team led by Dmitry Bertman, People's Artist of Russia, an outstanding director of our time. Maestro Fabio Mastrangelo, set designer Rostislav Protasov, stage director Ilya Ilin, conductor Filipp Selivanov, lighting designer Denis Enyukov, video designer Aleksandr Andronov, chorus master Evgeny Ilin and choreographer Edwald Smirnov work with him on the creation of this performance.
Norma has always occupied a special place in Dmitry Bertman's work — two productions of this Bellini masterpiece, staged by him outside the Helikon, have already entered the history of the theatre: in 2004, at the Santander Festival (Spain) Dmitry Bertman staged Norma, starring opera prima Maria Guleghina. And in 2016, a concert performance of Norma with the participation of Maria Guleghina, soloists, choir and orchestra of the Helikon-opera theatre at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow.
Norma is a masterpiece of bel canto, a work of powerful tragic force and purity of style, and the image of the main character is one of the most sublime in the world repertoire, brought to life on stage by the greatest opera singers. Unforgettable images of Norma were given to us by Giuditta Pasta, the first performer of this role, Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé, Maria Guleghina and Hibla Gerzmava.
Richard Wagner was a devoted admirer of this Bellini masterpiece, he believed that “Of all Bellini’s creations, Norma is the one which, besides the richest melody, unites the innermost embers with the deepest truth”.
Director Dmitry Bertman creates an original reinvented interpretation of a classic work: man and woman, war and peace, nature and architecture, Rome and Gaul, force and vulnerability, youth and old age, life and death, friendship and enmity — all these polarities coexist and form both the characters and their world in his production. The powerful dramatic intensity of a nature relevant to the present time — the conflict between duty and personal experiences —is resolved in Norma by the victory of duty, and love becomes the dominant motive.
Despite the fact that Bellini filled Norma to the limit with arias and duets of dizzying complexity and virtuosity, the theatre has its own creative forces to brilliantly bring the opera to the stage. One of the features of the premiere series is the participation of young artists, graduates of the Helikon Programme for Young Artists from various years, who have already won the audience’s hearts and have confidently become part of the Helikon family.
The premiere series will run from November 25 to 29 in the Stravinsky Hall. The Russian stage is in for a bright and outstanding event that will become one of the main productions of the capital’s opera season.