Theater an der Wien: Norma

Abandoning the druids and ritual magic, director Vasily Barkhatov relocates the action to a sculpture workshop in the era of an abstract 20th-century dictatorship. The famous "Casta Diva" is sung not beneath the shelter of a sacred grove, but in a molding shop where busts of the ruler are mass-produced by the thousands.

Norma here is not a priestess of the moon goddess, but a forewoman in a work jumpsuit—a strong woman balancing between love and politics. Casting Asmik Grigoryan in the title role initially seemed like a risk, as it was her bel canto debut. But the result exceeded all expectations: she poured into Norma a fiery rage, biting sarcasm, explosive passion, and—unexpectedly—a deep vulnerability. Meanwhile, the mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina, whom critics call the finest Adalgisa of our time, literally gets under your skin, creating precisely the complex bond between the two heroines that Barkhatov was searching for.