Norma Tragedia lirica di Felice Romani ... Rappresentata sull' I. R. Teatro della Scala a Milano li 26 Dicembre 1831 e dall'autore dedicata al suo maestro il celebre Cavr. N. Zingarell ... Atto [1o.-] 2o. [Piano-vocal score]

Napoli: B. Girard e Ci. Strada Toledo No. 211 [PNs 2121, 2120, 2097, 2190, 2102, 2100, 2196, 2091, 2092, 2194, 2195, 2119, 2128, 2193, 2122, 2099, 2103], 1847. Folio. Contemporary dark green leather-backed marbled boards with decorative octagonal dark green leather title label gilt to upper with initials "GBL," spine in decorative compartments gilt.

Act 1
1f. (recto title and table, verso blank), 7, [i] (blank), 9-25, [i] (blank), [i] (blank) 27-29, [i] (blank), 31-57, [i] (blank) 59-73, [i] (blank), 75-92 pp.

Act 2
1f. (recto title and table, verso blank), 97-12, [i] (blank), 123-125, [i] (blank), 127-137, [i] (blank), 139-153, [i] (blank) pp.

Engraved throughout. Printed on high quality heavy wove paper.

With name of singers in the first performance printed to head of vocal numbers; separate pagination for each number to upper outer corners and secondary pagination to lower outer corners.

Binding worn, rubbed, and bumped; endpapers worn and foxed; hinges split. Minor internal wear, soiling, foxing, and small stains to blank margins; final blank page soiled. Rare early edition. Lippmann p. 386 (recording Sinfonia only). Worldcat (no complete copies).

Norma, in two acts to a libretto by Felice Romani after Alexandre Soumet's verse tragedy Norma, was first performed in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala on 26 December 1831.

"With Norma, the most ambitious of his operas, Bellini created a work of extraordinary lyrical and dramatic beauty. Through melody of a kind that had not been written before or has been since, the structure of the music expresses a tragedy that is virtually of epic scale." Galatopoulos: Bellini, p. 242.

Bellini was "a leading figure in early 19th-century opera, noted for his expressive melodies and sensitive approach to text-setting. ... Norma has always been revered above other Italian operas of the period ... The title role is one of the most taxing and wide-ranging parts in the entire repertory: a noble character whose tragedy lies in her fatal love for an enemy of her people. The many different aspects of Norma's temperament are marvellously drawn by Bellini, not only in the aria 'Casta diva', but also in the superb duets with Adalgisa and Pollione, and in the ensemble in the finale of Act 2, where Bellini reaches his peak as a musical dramatist." Simon Maguire and Elizabeth Forbes in Grove Music Online.