Review: NORMA at Irish National Opera

There is a classic joke my dad always used to tell about opera: the curtain rises at 7:30 PM, the soprano loves the tenor, he loves her, and by 10:30 PM, she is dead. While that blueprint hangs over the entire art form, Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma delivers a textbook mosaic of these classic theatrical tropes. It gives us the star-crossed lovers from warring factions of Romeo and Juliet, the high-stakes love triangle of Aida, and the devastating maternal dilemmas of Medea. It is a narrative framework we feel we have already seen, yet Irish National Opera’s latest production proves that when the musical architecture is this solid, a three-hour running time passes entirely without notice.

But Norma doesn't just blindly follow my dad's old joke, it pulls off a brilliant twist. Instead of being a passive victim of a tragic plot, the heroine here is completely in charge of her own fate. And in a final turn that subverts the standard operatic punchline, the tenor actively chooses to step into the flames and die with her, turning a solitary demise into a mutual partnership.

The ultimate success of this production relies on a total celebration of voices, anchored from the very start by conductor Maurizio Benini. Benini holds the entire piece together with an expert hand, balancing the massive scale of the score while allowing the singers the space to truly shine. The vocal performances are phenomenal. Every voice is exceptionally strong, intertwining seamlessly to showcase individual strengths while pulling the audience deeper into the drama.

Salome Jicia brings a commanding presence and a distinct, rich color to the title role. While the iconic "Casta Diva" aria is the traditional benchmark of the piece, Jicia’s most gripping work happens in the opera’s final moments. Here, she completely flips the tragic script. Unlike Medea, who sacrifices her own children for revenge, Norma sacrifices herself and her absolute last worry on this earth is their safety. Jicia is so convincing in this selfless maternal desperation that she moves the audience to tears.

Bass William Guanbo Su delivers a massive, anchoring performance as her father, Oroveso. He commands the stage with total authority, his voice effortlessly shaping the energy of the entire auditorium every single time he steps onto it.

Jicia is brilliantly matched by Australian soprano Siobhán Stagg as Adalgisa. Stagg possesses a lighter, incredibly agile soprano that is an absolute technical pleasure to listen to, providing a gorgeous, bright contrast to Norma’s deeper tone. Tenor Mario Chang completes the central trio with a vocally robust performance as Pollione, matching Jicia's intensity perfectly during their final choice.

Even the smaller roles sung by local Irish talent pop with quality, particularly Aaron O'Hare as Flavio and Leanne Fitzgerald as Clotilde, both of whom make their moments on stage cut through clearly. Standing behind them all is the powerhouse Irish National Opera Chorus, which manages to be fiercely dominant while maintaining a beautiful softness during "Casta Diva."

Director Orpha Phelan actively rejects the outdated trope of the "crazy, impulsive female" archetype, ensuring this Norma remains calculated and rational to the end. However, the production stumbles in its aesthetic choices. Set in a gritty, post-apocalyptic wasteland, the visual language lands closer to a staging of We Will Rock You than a grand tragedy. In a country steeped in Celtic history, missing the direct cultural connection to the Druids feels like a massive missed opportunity. A local, ancient Irish context would have offered a far more grounded and resonant framework than a generic dystopian future.

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