»Norma« von Vincenzo Bellini

In the organizer's words:

Vincenzo Bellini was convinced that opera should "make you cry, shudder and die" through its singing. With his score of Norma , he came closer to this ideal than ever before. It combines bel canto in its most beautiful form with the character study of a rejected woman. The Gallic seer Norma loves the hostile Roman proconsul Pollione. However, when he cheats on her with the younger Adalgisa, she goes into a rage. Norma's emotional rollercoaster finally leads to a heroic self-sacrifice at her lover's side. For a long time, Bellini's opera was primarily regarded as a musically precious diva piece, but in recent years there has been an increasing awareness of its dramatic content. In his production, Christof Loy explores the psychological nuances of the work and creates a gripping chamber play which, in combination with Bellini's music, goes straight to the heart.