Norma review – fine singing foiled by posturing and period cliche

The bel canto repertory has never been one of English National Opera’s strongest suits. Bellini has been particularly neglected, and this version of Norma is the company’s first attempt at his best-known opera.

Christopher Alden’s production is new to the Coliseum but it was first seen at Opera North four years ago. It’s a staging with many of the usual Alden tropes, which replaces the original setting of Roman-occupied Gaul in the druidic, pre-Christian era with (I think) Britain in Victorian times. Though Charles Edwards’ set – a wooden-planked box in which is suspended a giant, unambiguously phallic tree trunk adorned with arcane symbols – would serve either time frame, Sue Willmington’s costumes fix the action firmly in the 19th century, and the clash between oppressors and the oppressed becomes a standoff between tradition and progress, an agricultural society and an industrialised one.

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It’s unclear how that switch sharpens the impact of Bellini’s tragedy, though. There’s a bit too much posturing and histrionic axe-wielding on stage, and a few too many period cliches – Norma’s children are got up as street urchins, ready to be sent up the nearest Victorian chimney. Not enough attention seems to have been paid to delineating relationships and intentions, so for much of a long evening the dramatic pulse beats rather slowly. That’s only partly a result of the slowish tempi favoured by conductor Stephen Lord, in what is musically a first-class performance, with the tone set by the ENO Chorus, which consistently shows how vital it is to the company’s shows.

This is treacherous solo vocal territory, but the main roles are taken with tremendous confidence. As Norma herself, Marjorie Owens is wonderfully poised and totally on top of every challenge, even if she occasionally conjures some strange vowel sounds from George Hall’s translation. Jennifer Holloway’s Adalgisa matches her for vocal authority and assurance. Peter Auty is a tireless Pollione and James Cresswell a characteristically uncompromising Oroveso, though why Valerie Reid has been made to play Clotilde as a bent crone with a sickle escapes me. Somehow the dramatic parts don’t add up to a convincing whole, let alone show why this opera came to be so admired by composers as diverse as Verdi and Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.

• Until 11 March. Venue: Coliseum, London. Buy tickets for Norma from theguardianboxoffice.com.