Jessye Norman | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Norman in 2014 | |
| Born | Jessye Mae Norman (1945-09-15)September 15, 1945 Augusta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | September 30, 2019(2019-09-30) (aged 74) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Operatic soprano |
| Years active | 1968–2019 |
| Awards |
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Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to performdramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to thatvoice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert and recital stages, Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven'sLeonore, Wagner'sSieglinde andKundry, Berlioz'sCassandre and Didon, and Bartók'sJudith.The New York Times music criticEdward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound", and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."[1]
Norman trained atHoward University, thePeabody Institute, and theUniversity of Michigan. Her career began in Europe, where she won theARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1968, which led to a contract with theDeutsche Oper Berlin. Her operatic début came as Elisabeth in Wagner'sTannhäuser, after which she sang as Verdi'sAida atLa Scala in Milan. She made her first operatic appearance in the U.S. in 1982 with theOpera Company of Philadelphia, when cast as Jocasta in Stravinsky'sOedipus rex, and as Dido in Purcell'sDido and Aeneas. She went on to sing leading roles with many other companies, including theMetropolitan Opera, theLyric Opera of Chicago, theParis Opera, and theRoyal Opera, London. Internationally well known, she was invited to sing at thesecond inauguration of Ronald Reagan and atQueen Elizabeth II's 60th birthday celebration in 1986 and performedLa Marseillaise to celebrate the 200th anniversary of theFrench Revolution on July 14, 1989. She sang at the1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Atlanta and for thesecond inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1997.
Norman sang and recorded recitals of music byFranz Schubert,Johannes Brahms,Richard Strauss,Gustav Mahler,Ernest Chausson andFrancis Poulenc, among others. In 1984, she won theGrammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, the first of fiveGrammy Awards that she would collect during her career. Apart from several honorary doctorates and other awards, she received theGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award, theNational Medal of Arts, theLégion d'honneur, and was named a member of the BritishRoyal Academy of Music. In 1990, UN secretary-generalJavier Pérez de Cuéllar named her Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations.
Norman was born inAugusta, Georgia,[2] to Silas Norman, an insurance salesman, and Janie King-Norman, a schoolteacher.[3] She was one of five children[4] in a family of amateur musicians; her mother and grandmother were both pianists, and her father sang in a local choir. All siblings learned to play the piano early.[4] Norman attended Charles T. Walker Elementary School, and proved to be a talented singer as a young child, singing gospel songs at Mount Calvary Baptist Church at the age of four.[3] There she was greatly influenced by the singing of two women, Mrs. Golden and Sister Childs.[5] At the age of seven she entered her first vocal competition, placing third only because of a memory slip in the second stanza of the hymn "God Will Take Care of You".[6] She later said in interviews, "I guess He has taken care of me. That was my last memory slip in public."[6]
When Norman was nine she was given a radio for her birthday and soon discovered the world of opera through the weekly broadcasts of theMetropolitan Opera, which she listened to every Saturday. She started listening to recordings ofMarian Anderson andLeontyne Price, both of whom Norman credited as inspiring figures in her career.[4][7] She received her first formal vocal coaching from Rosa Harris Sanders Creque, who was her music teacher atA. R. Johnson Junior High School.[8] She continued to take voice lessons privately with Ms. Sanders Creque while attending Lucy C. Laney Senior High School in downtown Augusta.[a]
Norman studied at theInterlochen Center for the Arts in Northern Michigan in the opera performance program.[10] At the age of 16, she entered the Marian Anderson Vocal Competition inPhiladelphia which, although she did not win, led to an offer of a full scholarship atHoward University, inWashington, D.C.[4][7] While at Howard, studying voice with Carolyn Grant,[7] she sang in the university chorus and as a soloist at the Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ.[11] In 1964, she became a member ofGamma Sigma Sigma.[12]
In 1965, along with 33 other female students and four female faculty, Norman became a founding member of the Delta Nu chapter ofSigma Alpha Iota musicfraternity. In 1966, she won theNational Society of Arts and Letters singing competition.[13] After graduating in 1967 with a degree in music, she began graduate studies at thePeabody Conservatory inBaltimore and later at theUniversity of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance inAnn Arbor, Michigan, from which she earned a master's degree in 1968. During this time, Norman studied voice withElizabeth Mannion andPierre Bernac.[4][14]
After graduating, Norman, like many American young musicians at the time, moved to Europe to establish herself. In 1968, she won theARD International Music Competition in Munich.[15] The following year, she began a three-year contract with theDeutsche Oper Berlin, where she first appeared as Elisabeth in Wagner'sTannhäuser.[4][7]
Norman performed as a guest with German and Italian opera companies, often portraying noble characters convincingly, both by appearance and by unique voice which was both flexible and powerful. Her voice range was wide, fromcontralto registers todramatic soprano.[3][4] In 1970, she appeared inFlorence in the title role in Handel'sDeborah.[16] In 1971, she sang at theMaggio Musicale Fiorentino in the role of Sélika in Meyerbeer'sL'Africaine.[7] The same year, she portrayed Countess Almaviva in Mozart'sLe nozze di Figaro, alongsideDietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the count[7] at theBerlin Festival, and recorded the role with theBBC Orchestra conducted byColin Davis. The recording was a finalist for the Montreux International Record Award competition and exposed her to music listeners in Europe and the United States.[7]
In 1972, Norman made her first appearance atLa Scala, where she sang the title role in Verdi'sAida[16] and atThe Royal Opera atCovent Garden, London, where she appeared as Cassandra inLes Troyens by Berlioz.[7] Norman was Aida again in aconcert version that same year in her first well-publicized American performance at theHollywood Bowl for the venue's 50th anniversary celebration.[16][17] This was followed by an all-Wagner concert at theTanglewood Music Festival inLenox, Massachusetts, and a recital tour of the country, after which she returned to Europe for several engagements. Norman briefly returned to the United States to give her first New York City recital as part of the "Great Performers" series inAlice Tully Hall atLincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1973.[7]
In 1975, Norman moved to London and had no staged opera appearances for the next five years.[16] She remained internationally active as a recitalist and soloist in works such as Mendelssohn'sElijah and Franck'sLes Béatitudes. Norman returned to North America again in 1976 and 1977 to make an extensive concert tour. Norman toured Europe throughout the 1970s, giving recitals of works bySchubert,Mahler, Wagner,Brahms,Satie,Messiaen, and several contemporary American composers, to great critical acclaim.[18]
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In October 1980, Norman returned to the operatic stage in the title role ofAriadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss at theHamburg State Opera in Germany. Her first operatic appearance in the United States came in 1982 at theOpera Company of Philadelphia, where she appeared as Jocasta in Stravinsky'sOedipus rex, and as Purcell'sDido.[19] On July 18 she sang Didon in a concert performance of the second part of Berlioz'sLes Troyens (asLes Troyens à Carthage), conducted byGennady Rozhdestvensky. The performance was broadcast onBBC Radio 3, and an audio recording exists.[20]
Her stage debut at theMetropolitan Opera in New York City was on September 26, 1983, the opening night of the company's 100th-anniversary season, when she portrayed Cassandre inBerlioz'sLes Troyens withPlácido Domingo as Aeneas,Tatiana Troyanos as Didon, andJames Levine conducting.[21][22][23][24][25] According toDonal Henahan, the music critic ofThe New York Times, "she sang grippingly and projected well, even when placed well back in the cavernous sets."[21] The fourth performance, with the same cast, was telecast as part of theLive from the Met series.[26] A video recording has been issued on DVD[27] and is available for streaming at the Met Opera on Demand website.[28] On October 12 and 17, the fifth and sixth performances in the run of nine, she sang Didon withWilliam Lewis as Aeneas and Gwynn Cornell as Cassandre.[29] Reviewing the October 12 performance,Edward Rothstein ofThe New York Times reported that "she created a Carthaginian Queen who was both regal and vulnerable. It was a subtle and affecting dramatic portrait.... Her farewell aria was fluid and seductive, suggesting in its timbre both sensuous pleasures and death."[30] On February 8, the seventh performance of the series, she returned to the role of Cassandre, with Edward Sooter as Aeneas and Troyanos as Didon, but replaced Troyanos as Didon for act 5.[31] On February 13, the eighth performance, she again sang Didon, with Sooter as Aeneas and Cornell as Cassandre,[32] and on February 18, the ninth and final performance of the series, she sang both Cassandre and Didon, with Sooter as Aeneas.[33] Regarding the last performance,The New York Times reported that "the audience gave Miss Norman a 15-minute standing ovation that brought her back to the stage more than a half dozen times."[34] The performance was broadcast on theMetropolitan Opera Radio, and an audio recording is available.[20][35]
Norman programmed recitals innovatively, including contemporary music.[36] She commissioned the song cyclewoman.life.song by composerJudith Weir, a work premiered atCarnegie Hall, with texts byToni Morrison,Maya Angelou andClarissa Pinkola Estés.[37] In a review of a recital atAlice Tully Hall,Bernard Holland wrote inThe New York Times that she "carefully gauged her seemingly limitless resources to fit the changing textures of her material".[38] After a recital at Carnegie Hall,Allen Hughes wrote in the same paper that Norman "has one of the most opulent voices before the public today, and, as discriminating listeners are aware, her performances are backed by extraordinary preparation, both musical and otherwise."[39]
According toEncyclopædia Britannica: "By the mid-1980s she was one of the most popular and highly regarded dramatic soprano singers in the world."[18] She toldJohn Gruen in an interview: "As for my voice, it cannot be categorized – and I like it that way, because I sing things that would be considered in the dramatic, mezzo orspinto range. I like so many different kinds of music that I've never allowed myself the limitations of one particular range."[40] She was invited to sing at thesecond inauguration of U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan on January 21, 1985; she performed "Simple Gifts" fromAaron Copland'sOld American Songs at the ceremony.[41][42][43] In 1986, Norman sangGod Save the Queen for QueenElizabeth II's 60th-birthday celebration.[44][45] That same year she appeared as a soloist in Strauss'sFour Last Songs with theBerlin Philharmonic during its tour of the United States.[46]
Over the years Norman expanded her talent into less familiar areas. In 1988, she sang a concert performance ofPoulenc's one-act operaLa voix humaine ("The Human Voice"), based onJean Cocteau's 1930play of the same name.[47] During the 1980s and early 1990s, Norman produced numerous award-winning recordings, and many of her performances were televised. In addition to opera, many of Norman's recordings and performances during this time focused on art songs, lieder, oratorios, and orchestral works. Her interpretation of theFour Last Songs is especially acclaimed, as "the tonal qualities of her voice were ideal for these final works of the great Romantic German lieder tradition".[3]
Norman also performedArnold Schoenberg'sGurre-Lieder and his one-woman operaErwartung.[3] In 1989, she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera for a performance ofErwartung that marked the company's first single-character production.[48] It was presented in a double bill with Bartók'sBluebeard's Castle, with Norman playing Judith. Both operas were broadcast nationally.[49] That same year, she was the featured soloist withZubin Mehta and theNew York Philharmonic in the opening concert of its 148th season, which PBS telecast live.[50] She performed at theHong Kong Cultural Centre opening[51] and gave a recital at theNational Theater and Concert Hall inTaipei.[52]
Also in 1989, Norman was invited to sing the French national anthem,La Marseillaise, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of theFrench Revolution on July 14.[48] Her rendition was delivered at thePlace de la Concorde in Paris, in a costume designed byAzzedine Alaïa as part of an elaborate pageant orchestrated by avant-garde designerJean-Paul Goude.[53] This event was the inspiration that led the South African poet Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu to write a poem titled "I Shall Be Heard" dedicated to Norman. The poem appears in Ndlovu's book of poemsIn Quiet Realm, the foreword to which is penned by Norman.[54]
From the early 1990s, Norman lived inCroton-on-Hudson, New York, in a secluded estate known as "The White Gates", which was previously owned by television personalityAllen Funt. She performed atTchaikovsky's 150th Birthday Gala inLeningrad and appeared at theLyric Opera of Chicago in the title role of Gluck'sAlceste in 1990. She sang American spirituals with sopranoKathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall that year.[55] The following year, she performed in a concert recorded live withLawrence Foster and theLyon Opera Orchestra atNotre-Dame de Paris.[56] Norman sang Jocasta in Stravinsky'sOedipus rex at the opening operatic production at the newSaito Kinen Festival in theJapanese Alps nearMatsumoto in 1992.[57] The following year, she sang the title role in the Metropolitan Opera's production ofAriadne auf Naxos. In 1994, Norman sang at the funeral of former first ladyJacqueline Kennedy Onassis.[58][59] She was again the featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic, then conducted byKurt Masur, in a gala concert telecast for the opening of the orchestra's 153rd season in 1995. She gave a highly lauded performance as the title character of Janáček'sThe Makropulos Affair when it was first performed at the Met in 1996.[60]
Norman performed at the1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony inAtlanta, singing "Faster, Higher, Stronger". In January 1997, she performed at thesecond inauguration of U.S. PresidentBill Clinton,[42] singing, "Oh freedom!".[61] In 1998, she performed a recital at Carnegie Hall incorporatingsacred music by Duke Ellington, scored for jazz combo, string quartet and piano.[62] She sang Mahler'sDas Lied von der Erde, with theBoston Symphony Orchestra conducted bySeiji Ozawa.[63] A Christmas television program was filmed in her home town.[62] A spring recital tour in 1999 included performances in Tel Aviv. In the following season, she appeared at theSalzburg Festival.[64]
In 1999, Norman collaborated with choreographer-dancerBill T. Jones in a project for New York City's Lincoln Center, called "How! Do! We! Do!"[65] In 2000, she released an album,I Was Born in Love with You, featuring the songs ofMichel Legrand. The recording, reviewed as a jazz crossover project, featured Legrand on piano,Ron Carter on bass, andGrady Tate on drums.[36] In February and March 2001, Norman was featured at Carnegie Hall in a three-part concert series. WithJames Levine as her pianist, the concerts were a significant arts event, replete with an 80-page program booklet featuring a newly commissioned watercolor portrait of Norman byDavid Hockney. In 2002, Norman performed at the opening of Singapore'sEsplanade – Theatres on the Bay.[52]
On June 28, 2001, Norman and Kathleen Battle performedMythodea by Vangelis at theTemple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, Greece.[66] On March 11, 2002, Norman performed "America the Beautiful" at a service unveiling two monumental columns of light at the site of the formerWorld Trade Center, as a memorial for the victims of theSeptember 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City.[67] In 2002, she returned to Augusta to announce that she would fund a pilot school of the arts for children inRichmond County. Classes commenced at St. John United Methodist Church in the fall of 2003. In November 2004, a documentary about Norman's life and work was directed byAndré Heller andOthmar Schmiderer [de] as director of photography, documenting her music as well as political and social issues.[36] In 2006, Norman collaborated with the modern dance choreographerTrey McIntyre for a special performance during the summer at theVail Dance Festival.[36]
In 2003, the Rachel Longstreet Foundation and Norman partnered to open theJessye Norman School of the Arts, a tuition-freeperforming arts after-school program for economically disadvantaged students inAugusta, Georgia. Norman was actively involved in the program, including fundraisers for its benefit.[68]
In March 2009, Norman curatedHonor!, a celebration of the African-American cultural legacy. The festival honored African-American trailblazers and artists with concerts, recitals, lectures, panel discussions, and exhibitions hosted byCarnegie Hall, theApollo Theater, theCathedral of St. John the Divine, and other sites around New York City.[69]
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Norman served on the boards of directors for Carnegie Hall, City-Meals-on-Wheels in New York City, theDance Theatre of Harlem, theNew York Botanical Garden, theNew York Public Library, National Music Foundation, and theElton John AIDS Foundation. She was a member of the board and spokesperson for the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation, and also spokesperson for Partnership for the Homeless. She served on the board of trustees of the Augusta Opera Association and ofPaine College.[36]
In March 2013, the Apollo Theater andManhattan School of Music featured Norman inAsk Your Mama, a 90-minute multimedia show byLaura Karpman based onLangston Hughes's "Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz".[70]
In March 2014, Norman was featured atGreen Music Center Weill Hall on the campus ofSonoma State University inRohnert Park, California (Sonoma County), in a recital of American standards in tributes to the likes ofGeorge Gershwin,Duke Ellington andElla Fitzgerald. In 2015, she and pianist Mark Markham presented a program of mainly Gershwin, Kern, and Rodgers and Hart atCarnegie Hall with a few art songs by Satie and Poulenc.[71]
On May 6, 2014,Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published Norman's memoir,Stand Up Straight and Sing![72]
In April 2018, Norman was honored as the 12th recipient of theGlenn Gould Prize for her contribution to opera and the arts.[73]
Norman suffered aspinal cord injury in 2015. She died atMount Sinai Morningside in Manhattan on September 30, 2019, aged 74. The cause of death was given as "septic shock and multi-organ failure secondary to complications of" the spinal cord injury.[74] In September 2021, it was reported that Norman's brother had pursued legal action for alleged medical negligence against the doctors and hospital involved in an operation on her in 2015.[75]
Norman's public funeral was held in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia. ActorLaurence Fishburne, sociologistMichael Eric Dyson, Carnegie Hall'sClive Gillinson, civil rights activistVernon Jordan, and MayorHardie Davis spoke. Opera'sJ'Nai Bridges, jazz'sWycliffe Gordon, and students fromMorehouse College andSpelman College, as well as the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, performed.[76]
Norman was memorialized with a gala tribute at theMetropolitan Opera House, New York City, on November 24, 2019. Among the speakers and performers at the public remembrance wereAnna Deavere Smith;Gloria Steinem; the formerMinister of Culture of France,Jack Lang;Eric Owens; TheDance Theatre of Harlem; theAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater;Peter Gelb; andRenée Fleming.[77][78]
In an episode of theBBC Radio 4 programmeGreat Lives broadcast in September 2023, Norman was the choice ofChi-chi Nwanoku.[79]
TheGrammy Awards are awarded annually by theNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Norman has won 4 awards from 15 nominations as well as 1 lifetime achievement award.[80]
| Year | Award | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance | Berg: Der Wein - Concert Aria | Nominated |
| 1983 | Berlioz: La Mort De Cleopatre | Nominated | |
| Best Opera Recording | Faure: Penelope | Nominated | |
| 1984 | Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance | The Brahms Edition: Lieder (Complete) | Nominated |
| 1985 | Ravel: Songs Of Maurice Ravel | Won | |
| Mahler: Symphony No. 2 In C Minor ("Resurrection") | Nominated | ||
| 1988 | R. Strauss: Lieder (Including "Malven") | Nominated | |
| 1989 | Handel/Schubert/Schumann: Lieder (Jessye Norman - Live At Hohenems) | Nominated | |
| Best Classical Album | Wagner: Lohengrin | Nominated | |
| Best Opera Recording | Won | ||
| 1990 | Wagner: Die Walkuere | Won | |
| Best Classical Album | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle | Nominated | |
| Best Opera Recording | Won | ||
| 2006 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award[81][82] | Herself | Honored |
| 2011 | Best Classical Crossover Album | Roots - My Life, My Song | Nominated |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | National Society of Arts and Letters Singing Competition | Won | [13] | ||
| 1968 | ARD International Music Competition inMunich | First place | [83] | ||
| 1973 | Grand Prix du Disque | albums of lieder by Wagner, Schumann, Mahler and Schubert | Won | [84][85] | |
| 1976 | Won | ||||
| 1977 | Won | ||||
| 1982 | Gramophone Award | Four Last Songs | Won | [36] | |
| Musical America magazine | Musician of the Year | Won | [86] | ||
| 1992 | American Academy of Achievement | Golden Plate Award | Honored | [87] | |
| 1993 | Ace Award | Performance in a Music Special or Series | Jessye Norman at Notre Dame | Won | [84][36] |
| 1997 | Radcliffe College | Radcliffe Medal | Honored | [36][84] | |
| Kennedy Center Honors | Honored | [36][88] | |||
| 1999 | Georgia Music Hall of Fame | Inducted | [44] | ||
| 2000 | Eleanor Roosevelt Center | Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal | Work in the fight againstlupus,breast cancer,AIDS, and hunger | Honored | [36] |
| 2002 | American Classical Music Hall of Fame | Honored | [89] | ||
| 2010 | PresidentBarack Obama | National Medal of Arts | Honored | [90][91] | |
| 2013 | NAACP | Spingarn Medal | Honored | [92] | |
| 2015 | Wolf Prize in Arts(withMurray Perahia) | Won | [93] | ||
| 2018 | Glenn Gould Foundation | 12thGlenn Gould Prize | Won | [94] | |
| 2018 | Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal | Won | [95] | ||
Norman received honorary doctorates from more than 30 colleges, universities, and conservatories.[36]
| Year | College | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Howard University | Honorary doctorate | [107] |
| 1984 | Boston Conservatory of Music | [107] | |
| Sewanee: The University of the South | [108] | ||
| 1988 | Harvard University | [88][109] | |
| 1989 | University of Cambridge, UK | [110] | |
| 1990 | Juilliard School of Music | Honorary doctorate of Music | [111] |
| Yale University | Honorary doctorate | [88][112] | |
| 1996 | Wesleyan University | Honorary doctorate of Fine Arts | [113] |
| 2011 | Manhattan School of Music | Honorary doctorate | [114] |
| Northwestern University | [115] | ||
| 2013 | University of Rochester | [116] | |
| 2015 | University of Oxford, UK | [117] | |
| 2019 | New England Conservatory of Music, Boston | [118] |
Among Norman's opera roles were:[1][6][119]
Notable parts in oratorios and orchestral concerts included:[119]
Norman performed recitals, including:[119]
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