Casta diva (Norma)

Bellini composed Norma in the late summer and autumn of 1831 for La Scala, working from Felice Romani's libretto after Alexandre Soumet's Paris tragedy. The premiere, on 26 December 1831, went badly enough that Bellini called it a fiasco in a letter written the same night; the audience came round within days. He is said to have set Casta diva eight times before he was satisfied with it. The title role demands a rare combination of long-breathed line, coloratura and tragic weight, and the opera's standing has rested ever since on the singers willing to attempt it.