Bath Opera goes International with Upcoming Main Show ‘Norma’

Bath Opera is yet again pushing at boundaries with its main production scheduled for February 2025. Our fearless local opera company has impressed national commentators with its ambition, successfully mounting large and difficult operas such as La Gioconda, Jewels of the Madonna, Peter Grimes and Eugene Onegin, giving Bath audiences rare opportunities to see these works live and picking up many awards in the process.

This year, Bath Opera is going international in its quest to present its next challenging work – Bellini’s Norma. The vocal requirements of the key roles are such that few major operas mount this work even though it was the favourite of many singers like Maria Callas… who performed it more than any other role making the aria Casta Diva both well known and well loved. The reason it is now performed so rarely is that it is a real ‘high wire act’ and so represents a big risk for major opera houses. Bath Opera’s auditions for the key roles drew applicants from Greece, Denmark, China, Australia and Sweden as well as all over the UK, such is the demand from first class singers with superb technique to have the opportunity to add this role to their repertoire.

Bath Opera’s new MD for this season, William Stevens, himself a contracted artist with Welsh National Opera and other major opera companies told us “I am delighted and very excited that in my first season conducting with Bath Opera we have secured such a stellar, international cast for our production of Norma. The auditions attracted such a high calibre of singers that we have been able to double-cast two of the key roles, offering audiences a chance to see two different but equally wonderful interpretations of these amazing characters.  The title role of Norma will be shared between outstanding coloratura sopranos Joelene Griffith (hailing from Australia and trained in Cardiff) and Cecilia Zhang (hailing from China and doing advanced studies at Birmingham Conservatoire). The role of Pollione, Norma’s former lover and Rome’s representative in Gaul, will be shared between Stockholm based Swedish tenor John Haque and local British tenor and Bath Opera regular Robert Felstead.  All the other roles were cast to an equally high calibre and we cannot wait for you to hear this cast showing you what they can do.”

Bath Opera’s 40 strong chorus will be performing another first, as this is the first time in the company’s 48-year history that it has performed Italian opera in the language in which it was written. English surtitles will be used.

With superb soloists, large chorus and orchestra, this fully staged production of Norma at The Roper Theatre is forecast to be one of Bath’s hottest tickets. Tickets will be released in November through Bath Box Office.