»Casta Diva« – »Chaste Goddess«. With this famous cavatina, the priestess Norma commands the population to remain peaceful in the fight against the Roman occupiers. However, Norma herself is conflicted, having broken her vows and secretly being a lover and mother. She leads a double life, as do her lover, the Roman general Pollione, and the novice Adalgisa. All these dangerous secrets escalate into a drama of life, death, and the sacrifice of love in the face of conflicts over occupation and Roman supremacy. It is said that all weapons are fair game in war – even those that strike at the heart and destroy all that we love?

Bellini’s celebrated 1831 bel canto opera presents these conflicts in an extreme spectrum of emotion, with dramatic choral scenes, rituals and vocal fireworks from the three exceptional singers at the centre of this operatic thriller. Here, life and death, war and peace, love and duty are all at stake.