Steven Winn, [SF Chronicle, 25 October 2005]

Moments after the heroine's hushed confession, in the final scene of "Norma" at the War Memorial Opera House, the chorus murmurs a heartsick response: "Our blood runs cold." The audience feels it right along with them. Here, in a San Francisco Opera production that has some substantial liabilities to overcome, the power of Bellini's 1831 masterpiece shines through in all its ravishing, blood-chilling complexity.