Norma by Opera in Williamsburg Virginia

Bellini's Norma is among the most celebrated examples of Italian opera of the earlier 19th Century that expresses dramatic situations and emotions through beautiful singing (bell canto). This style prevailed throughout Europe in the early 19th Century, and its best examples are at the core of the repertoire of opera in the world to our own day. The stories were typically taken from theater and literature of the day, and were cast in the distant past or far-away places; the emotions and the situations are universal and are still relevant -- the pursuit of happiness and of justice, conflicts between emotions and responsibilities, and clashes between the public and the private sphere. Norma is the high druid priestess, responsible for making decisions of war and peace and vowed to a life of celibacy. She is also the secret beloved of Pollione, the Roman commander, and the mother of his children. Now Pollione is being recalled to Rome. Will he take Norma and his children with him?