Before Maria Callas started singing the title role in Bellini’s Norma, the opera (premiered in 1831) had lain neglected and out of fashion for much of the 20th century. This live recording, made when Callas first appeared at the Royal Opera House, London in November 1952, shows clearly how her force of personality and stunning vocal ability were instrumental in rehabilitating Bellini’s masterpiece. Callas’ “Casta diva”, the Act I aria where the Druidic priestess Norma intones a prayer for peace, combines a wine-rich tonal quality with the pinpoint precision required for Bellini’s floridly embellished note-clusters. Mezzo-soprano Ebe Stignani is outstanding as Norma’s love rival, Adalgisa, and conductor Vittorio Gui paces the opera astutely. The sound is a little dusty, but it can’t dilute the dramatic intensity of the opera’s closing scene, where Callas’ Norma prepares for immolation on a sacrificial pyre, her vocal strength and dignity undiminished.