Richard Bonynge has been here before - at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, on the podium, conducting the orchestra for a Vancouver Opera production of Bellini's Norma . The first time was in 1963, when Bonynge conducted a production that became legendary - and a turning point in the company's young history. Tonight, he's back at the just-renovated Queen Elizabeth Theatre for a new Norma that will launch the company's 50th-anniversary season and provide the first test of the venue's natural acoustics.
That 1963 production was the start of something huge for Bonynge. It was his first Norma. Since then, the 79-year-old has conducted more than 100 performances of the difficult opera, for which he has become renowned.
"It's like Bellini's in the room," says James Wright, the VO's general director, who went after Bonynge for this event not only because of his skill, but because he feels Bonynge personifies the Vancouver Opera's history, as does Norma . Wright wanted to begin this all-important season (it is, after all, Olympic season as well) with an opera that would pay tribute to the VO's past. And Norma was the obvious choice.
"Norma is our homage to Irving [Guttman, founding artistic director of the Vancouver Opera]… to the early years and that pivotal, pivotal production," says Wright. "And having Bonynge return to conduct this … just made a lot of sense. And I finally decided to take a deep breath and produce Norma myself."
It was Guttman's vision - and tenacity - that led to that milestone production in 1963. He wanted to bring in Joan Sutherland - Bonynge's wife - for the title role, but faced a fight with his board members, who balked at Sutherland's fee of $3,000 for each of five performances. Guttman held his ground, and got Sutherland and Bonynge - as well as the great Marilyn Horne for the role of Adalgisa.
The result, he remembers, was thrilling. Sutherland and Horne sounded magnificent together, night after night. "There's not enough superlatives for that kind of thing," Guttman says. "My God, it was magic."
In Norma , the Roman consul Pollione abandons Norma, the mother of his two sons, in favour of Adalgisa, an acolyte. The role of Norma is considered one of the most demanding in the soprano repertoire; a "super-human role," Bonynge calls it. Consider the placement of the popular aria Casta Diva , so early on - leaving little time to warm up.
Sutherland's first attempt at the role was in that 1963 production - chosen by her and her husband because Vancouver was considered a little out of the way, and off the opera radar. "She felt that it would be a great place to try Norma out," says Bonynge. "And of course it ended up as much more than a tryout." Sutherland, dubbed "La Stupenda," went on to perform the role on many other stages to great acclaim, and is featured on several recordings. Now 83, she has long since retired and was too ill to make the trip with her husband to Vancouver from their home in the Swiss Alps.
Bonynge's history with the VO didn't end with Norma , of course. In 1974, he became artistic director of the company and, in 1977, founded the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. "I'm thrilled that they're still in existence because it was the orchestra which we started … and to find them in such a fantastic shape is a great thrill," Bonynge says.
He is also impressed, he says, with the cast for this production. Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian is one of the world's most in-demand Normas at the moment. Kate Aldrich makes her VO debut in the role of Adalgisa. And Victoria native Richard Margison sings Pollione.
Tonight marks the first non-amplified music event at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre since its $48.5-million, four-phase renovation, so the acousticians (and others) will be listening carefully - and nervously.
Though expectations - acoustically, musically and nostalgically - are high, Bonynge himself will have a steady hand. He's happy with the cast and orchestra, and is certainly familiar with the material.
"I'm too old to be nervous," says the Maestro. "I've been at it for a long, long time."
Norma runs at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre from tonight to Dec. 5 ( vancouveropera.ca ).
Marsha Lederman