The internal conflict between love and duty is a frequent instigator of the plot of many operas. Bellini's heroine is torn between the sacred duty of serving herown people and the love she feels for the enemy conqueror.She finds the solution in her own, personal sacrifice.
Although Norma is pronouncedly a belcanto opera in which the beauty of the vocal line is far more important than the logic of the stage action, the staging of this opera as seen by the director Himmelmann will stress the universality and modernity of the theme dealing with the conflict between the contradictory responsibilities.
