Norma

If one role belongs to Maria Callas, it is Norma. Bellini's Druid priestess — torn between her gods, her children and the man who betrayed her — was the part she sang more often than any other, and the one by which she measured herself all her life.

She first sang it in Florence in 1948, under Tullio Serafin, the conductor who shaped her Italian career. Norma was her calling card ever after: her London debut at Covent Garden in 1952, her American debut in Chicago in 1954, her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in 1956 — each time, it was Norma. Her final performances of the role were given at the Opéra de Paris in 1964 and 1965.

"Casta diva", Norma's prayer to the moon, became the aria most identified with her — but what Callas restored to the role was its tragic stature: a bel canto heroine sung with the dramatic truth of a great actress.

In the Foundation's collection

The collection preserves photographs, programmes and recordings documenting Callas's Normas across two decades — including material from her Paris performances, the last she ever gave of the role. Explore the collection · Licensing

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