Sylvia Townsend Warner - 18 November, 1952

from The diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner, page 191:

I spent the evening tearing upstairs to hear Maria Kallas [sic] in Norma. Casta diva is everything he meant it to be, & so is the finale of the last act; and the two women (Ebe Stignani the Adelgiza) were lovely together, playing like race-horses.  The bald straightforward classicism - peut-etre je l'ai senti, said Pasta; and Bellini felt it, though he made such comic druids & such excruciatingly inept modulations.  Incidentally, the shindy of the chorus in the last scene is louder and more overwhelming than any recondite effects of clamour.  It is just loud …   more >>

cite as

Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Claire Harman (ed.), The diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner (:London, 1995), p. 191. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1443009062595 accessed: 28 March, 2024

Listeners

Sylvia Townsend Warner
Musicologist, Writer
1893-1978

Listening to

hide composers
Norma
written by Vincenzo Bellini
performed by Maria Callas

Experience Information

Date/Time 18 November, 1952
Medium broadcast
Listening Environment in private, indoors

Originally submitted by Jo Reardon on Wed, 23 Sep 2015 12:51:02 +0100
Approved on Fri, 18 Dec 2015 14:31:06 +0000