This demanding role requires a soprano with a firm coloratura and the dramatic intensity capable of expressing emotions ranging from tenderness, friendship, maternal love, jealousy, rage, self‑pity to despair. Lebanese-Canadian Joyce El‑Khoury, whose first Norma this is, triumphed on all fronts. The range of this lyric soprano is impressive. She had no difficulty with the coloratura of the Act I 'Casta Diva'