If you attended Romeo et Juliette at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2023, you may remember Lisette Oropesa as Juliette. The American soprano is without question one of the most prominent artists not only of her generation but of the international opera world as a whole. She appears regularly on the world’s leading stages, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera and the Royal Opera House in London. With her vibrant stage presence, radiant personality and dazzling vocal technique, she captivates audiences wherever she performs. We are more than delighted that her debut as Norma will take place in Savonlinna, a pleasure shared by both the festival and its audience.
John Osborne joins the cast as a second singer of world-class stature. A highly respected specialist in French and Italian repertoire, with particular expertise in grand opéra and bel canto, he has appeared at the foremost opera houses around the globe and enjoys a long and exceptionally successful career. He is especially admired for his elegance, refinement and stylistic sensitivity, earning acclaim from critics and audiences alike. In the summer of 2026, John Osborne will appear on the stage of the Savonlinna Opera Festival for the first time.
Lisette Oropesa is without question one of the most prominent artists not only of her generation but of the international opera world as a whole.
Buy ticketsIn a concert performance, there are no sets, props or costumes. The focus lies entirely on the music, the singing and the interpretation. This allows listeners to relax and concentrate on what truly matters. Norma is one of the operas that is performed comparatively often in concert form, as the expressive power of its music and drama is fully compelling even without a staged production.
The relationship between Druids and Romans has always carried an air of mystery. This is largely due to the scarcity of sources on the Druids and to the fact that almost all surviving accounts were written by Roman authors. Druids fulfilled religious, legal and educational functions and were regarded as transmitters of knowledge. They were believed to possess extensive understanding of astronomy, the natural worldand the law.
Roman sources, however, often depict the Druids in an ambivalent or even negative light, with references to human sacrifice and manipulation. In popular culture, shaped above all by Asterix and Obelix, Druids are instead portrayed as brewers of magic potions, spell-casters and figures of exceptional wisdom.
In Bellini’s Norma, the darker depths of the human soul are revealed through a Druid priestess who deceives not only her people but herself over many years. The overall effect is a form of demystification that echoes aspects of the Roman view of the Druids, without constituting a deliberate reproduction of that perspective.
From the famous aria Casta Diva to Norma’s heart-rending scenes and onward to moments of boundless rage, irrationality and near madness, Bellini weaves almost the full spectrum of human emotion into his masterpiece. In doing so, he creates a musical arc that stretches from the most intimate contemplation to the very limits of human experience.
Bellini’s music does not primarily follow external action, but rather the inner states of his characters. Every melody, every repetition and every moment of apparent stillness gives voice to an inner emotional movement. It is precisely through the slow unfolding of his melodic lines that an extraordinary intensity emerges, making the unspoken audible and turning Norma into one of the most compelling psychological portraits in the history of opera.
Norma & Lisette Oropesa at Olavinlinna Castle on July 29 & August 1 at 7pm.
