Casta diva

Cristina Deutekom (born Christine Engel, August 28, 1931) is a Dutch opera singer. Renowned for her coloratura technique, she is also known as Christine Deutekom and Christina Deutekom. Her voice was that of a dramatic coloratura, although lirico spinto with an incredible coloratura technique would probably be more accurate. She sang with virtually all the leading tenors of her time: Franco Corelli, Richard Tucker, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Alfredo Kraus, Carlo Bergonzi and Nicolai Gedda. Deutekom was born in Amsterdam. After some smaller roles, her breakthrough came in 1963, portraying the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at De Nederlandse Opera. She then sang the same role at all major European opera houses and also at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1968. In 1974 she opened the MET season next to Plácido Domingo as Elena in I vespri siciliani. Meanwhile she had been extending her repertoire. Besides the Queen of the Night, her Mozart roles included Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito). She also scored triumphant successes in Italy in the great bel canto roles of Rossini (Armida), Bellini (Norma, I puritani) and Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor). She went on to achieve international fame in a repertoire that also embraced the great dramatic Verdi roles (Abigaile in Nabucco, Lady Macbeth, Leonora in Il trovatore, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elena in I vespri siciliani and the roles that were captured in commercial recordings: Giselda in I Lombardi and Odabella in Attila). Finally, she went on to sing the title role in Puccini's Turandot. Cristina's stage career ended in 1986, when she suffered a heart attack. She turned to giving master classes internationally. As of 2001, she was a guest teacher at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague...

Lyrics & English Translation

NORMA
Are there those who dare
To raise seditious voices,
Warlike voices, before the altar of God?
Who dares to question my inspired words,
Seeking to hasten the ordained fate of Rome?
That will not come through human efforts.

OROVESO
How long, then, must we remain oppressed
By Rome? Have not the Roman eagles
Sullied enough our native shores,
Our ancestral temples? Brenno's sword
Can remain no longer idle.

ALL
Let that sword, for once, be brandished!

NORMA
And broken,
If one of you should draw it
Before the destined time. Not yet
Is the moment of our vengeance.
The Roman spears are still
Stronger than the Druids axes.

ALL
What command has God given you?
What prophecy?

NORMA
In the secret books of Heaven,
On a mortal page, I read
The name of proud Rome.
One day she shall die; but not at your hands.
She will die, consumed
By her own vices, Await that hour,
That fatal hour decreed by God.
And meanwhile, peace! I cut the sacred mistletoe.

NORMA and PRIESTESSES
Chaste goddess, who dost bathe in silver light
These ancient, hallowed trees,
Turn thy fair face upon us,
Unveiled and unclouded...
Temper thou the burning hearts,
The excessive zeal of thy people.
Enfold the earth in that sweet peace
Which, through Thee, reigns in heaven....


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I send my kind and warm regards,