Perspective Exclusive: The Untold Story of Jessye Norman

Jessye Mae Norman was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type.
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Пікірлер: 100

  • @lymanmj
    @lymanmj Жыл бұрын

    I had the pleasure of playing a concert at the Kenedy Center in which Jessye was the star. For one of her selections, there were no horn parts, so I used the break to walk around the empty Kennedy Center during our rehearsal and listen to her from every corner of the hall. Jessye's voice filled up every crack and crevice in that great space with the most inspirational sound. Absolutely no amplification was needed. I will remember this experience forever.

  • @pepevaladez8096

    @pepevaladez8096

    8 ай бұрын

    Thanks for sharing your beautiful experience !

  • @allenjones3130
    @allenjones31302 жыл бұрын

    Jesse was one of opera's all-time great sopranos. Rest in peace, Ms. Norman.

  • @mateomelendez9745

    @mateomelendez9745

    Жыл бұрын

    Ms. Norman definitely was fabulous!

  • @workingtoseethelight8244
    @workingtoseethelight82442 жыл бұрын

    So happy she escaped to Europe for a while, I know the feeling. Bless you and your music Jessye...

  • @emmystarlight
    @emmystarlight2 жыл бұрын

    I am sooooo glad i had a chance to meet her after a concert in Köln Germany.I told her i learned so much and that resulted in a 10 minutes conversation about different aspects of Lied-singing.I was on cloud 9 for weeks afterwards,never forgot her tips and help💝💝💝

  • @mariannehappiness2227
    @mariannehappiness2227 Жыл бұрын

    Rest In Heavenly Peace Mrs J .Norman.And THANK YOU so MUCH for your PHENOMENAL MUSIC.🙏🏾🌍

  • @chucklattanzio2857
    @chucklattanzio28572 жыл бұрын

    Magnificent voice, one of the greatest opera divas.

  • @scottgrunow5201
    @scottgrunow52012 жыл бұрын

    Her mezzo and comtralto extension was unique. Her forays into contralto rep were stunning

  • @hape3862
    @hape38622 жыл бұрын

    3:05 We will always remember you Jessye, Rest In Peace.

  • @pepevaladez8096
    @pepevaladez80968 ай бұрын

    Miss Norman...( sigh ) , out of this world. She was, is, and always be a goddess.

  • @JustAThought155
    @JustAThought15510 ай бұрын

    She sings with her entire body! Fabulous strength!

  • @v.g.r.l.4072
    @v.g.r.l.40722 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful documentary throughout. She has been for me the most gifted interpreter of the Love's Death of Tristan and Isolde.

  • @stephanebelizaire3627
    @stephanebelizaire36272 жыл бұрын

    A True Legend in her own lifetime , Tremendously Good , Talented and Great !

  • @direfranchement
    @direfranchement2 жыл бұрын

    Still very difficult to believe Jessye Norman is no more.

  • @Shahrdad
    @Shahrdad2 жыл бұрын

    Interestingly, I remember reading (I think in Opera News) that the voice sounded smaller than expected at her Met debut, which rather surprised me. She was such a great lady. Her Four Last Songs are still my favorite. I also found her to be stunningly beautiful, both when she was big and when she lost a lot of weight. I think like Callas, the weight loss hurt her voice.

  • @WarrenHolly

    @WarrenHolly

    Жыл бұрын

    You know how America is just read some of these comments. Thank God she escaped. She didn't have to sell her soul to these sad people.😏

  • @sunriseschubert4391
    @sunriseschubert43912 жыл бұрын

    One of the best Opera singers of all time! 👏

  • @peterdevita6308
    @peterdevita63086 ай бұрын

    GREATNESS in every sense!

  • @nwdixieboy
    @nwdixieboy2 жыл бұрын

    Very well made. They often caught her looking so beautiful. Lots of sampling of her best singing.

  • @anahobintie
    @anahobintie2 жыл бұрын

    an amazing artist! a true Opera star!

  • @chucklattanzio2857
    @chucklattanzio28572 жыл бұрын

    Magnificent voice

  • @bobturnley2787
    @bobturnley27872 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful voice. Sang the most beautiful Liebestod with Karajan. But no one can do it all. Her stage repertoire was relatively small. A couple of Wagner roles, a couple by Mozart, Ariadne by Strauss, Bluebeard's Castle, Verdi's Requiem and a few performances of Aida, Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Purcell's Dido and the Cassandra and Dido in Berlioz Les Troyens. A recording of Carmen. A Child of Our Time by Michael Tippett. The concert and recital repertoire and spirituals. Whatever she sang was beautiful and powerful.

  • @WarrenHolly

    @WarrenHolly

    Жыл бұрын

    You must be American.

  • @tfleiter

    @tfleiter

    7 ай бұрын

    The “Liebestod” with von Karajan is my “go to” recording whenever I want to listen to something absolutely exceptional…and it is - regardless what diehard “Wagner” are trying to tell you. I have heard it doesn’t of times and it still hits me like the first time as absolutely unbelievably perfect.

  • @bobturnley2787

    @bobturnley2787

    7 ай бұрын

    @@tfleiter Jessye and Von Karajan had to have known that that was one of the greatest moments of their musical lives. Literally stunning.

  • @orion8835
    @orion88352 жыл бұрын

    Norman had an organ like voice. Somewhat hollow, dark it could be capable of feathery soft singing and a bellowed grandeur. Though she never had much squillo (nor ever added this her technique sadly) preferring a roar and churchy heady like approach versus have a cutting sound, she made strong effect in careful repertoire. She had yo be careful as things often got silly when she veered from that. She sang everything like a spiritual mezzo with a lot of mouth tone that touched into soprano registers gently. The tone was an interesting tone totally recognizable quite easily. Her voice was always well supported and she was always in tune.

  • @WarrenHolly

    @WarrenHolly

    Жыл бұрын

    You're one of those people. Sad. So sad.

  • @karinduppel2738

    @karinduppel2738

    4 ай бұрын

    Welch ein wunderbarer Engel ,unerreichbar ,auch in ihrer Güte

  • @marianalotter6035
    @marianalotter60352 жыл бұрын

    What a voice!

  • @thomasvanantwerp728
    @thomasvanantwerp7289 ай бұрын

    I had the privilege of hearing her two times in recital; once in Houston, and once in Chicago. Imagine my surprise, and disappointment, when I learned recently that her body is buried in an unmarked grave in her home town of Augusta. Seems sad that such a remarkable singer ends up in an unmarked grave. RIP, Miss Norman.

  • @natsalta
    @natsalta2 жыл бұрын

    beautiful voice !!!!

  • @TheBeverly7
    @TheBeverly72 жыл бұрын

    Bravo Diva!!!!!!!

  • @rosemarygraves5526
    @rosemarygraves5526 Жыл бұрын

    An inspiration for many. Thank you

  • @FCOLAXCDG
    @FCOLAXCDG2 жыл бұрын

    THANK YOU !!!!!! ❤️🇱🇨

  • @BrianJosephMorgan
    @BrianJosephMorgan2 жыл бұрын

    Brava!

  • @irishmike3514
    @irishmike35142 жыл бұрын

    Fabulous documentary on a truly great singer!!

  • @francoisbessing
    @francoisbessing Жыл бұрын

    Jessye Norman, Queen of Opera, The Impeccably Seamless Mezzo-Soprano whose music shall not be lost.

  • @rustinrogers
    @rustinrogers2 жыл бұрын

    the BEST!

  • @guldenaydin9918
    @guldenaydin99182 жыл бұрын

    Fascinating.... 💝🌈💝🌈

  • @yuehchopin
    @yuehchopin2 жыл бұрын

    Danke 3x

  • @Usercantwelve
    @Usercantwelve Жыл бұрын

    GOAT❤

  • @synergyhowacquisition3821
    @synergyhowacquisition38212 жыл бұрын

    bad ass vixen!

  • @r-cdmx
    @r-cdmx2 жыл бұрын

    👏🏽✨

  • @vivianbelissima
    @vivianbelissima2 жыл бұрын

    👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

  • @brvndxxxn
    @brvndxxxn2 жыл бұрын

    Angelic

  • @janiceeteme5536
    @janiceeteme55362 жыл бұрын

    ❤️

  • @maryvallettakeith6146
    @maryvallettakeith61462 жыл бұрын

    Not really. There's a lot she couldn't do (coloratura for one), but one does not need to do everything to be great. And she was inarguably one of the greats.

  • @WarrenHolly

    @WarrenHolly

    Жыл бұрын

    Do you understand it's a you tube title. What is wrong with you people? It maybe one persons opinion. Can they have that? Wow! It must really suck being you.

  • @johnmueter378
    @johnmueter3782 жыл бұрын

    Jessye Norman was a phenomenal singer who deserved a better documentary than this mess. It is sloppily produced, badly edited, with factual errors and needless repetitions. (Oedipus Rex is not an opera - it is an oratorio; it was her winning of the Munich Competition that launched her European career, not Berlin.)

  • @mariannehappiness2227

    @mariannehappiness2227

    Жыл бұрын

    I AGREE ,thanks🙏🏾👏👏

  • @claranimmer7349

    @claranimmer7349

    Жыл бұрын

    She gave life to every piece of music she sang. Overwhelming, pure beauty and true, deep emotions. A singular arstist.

  • @SOULRELIEF22
    @SOULRELIEF22 Жыл бұрын

    BELOVED! PLEASE don't die without JESUS in your heart! St John 3:16! ❤️ Nothing else matters.

  • @yvonneplant9434
    @yvonneplant94342 жыл бұрын

    Victory Brinker will be like Norman some day. She's already an amazing talent and she's 10 years old.

  • @tracythomas5467

    @tracythomas5467

    2 жыл бұрын

    So true. I’m 40 never listed to classical music. Heard Victory and landed here. Can’t believe I’ve been missing this beautiful music.

  • @luispena8780
    @luispena87806 ай бұрын

    PIENSO QUE OARA LOS PAISE KATINOS DEBERIAN TRABSMITITLO EN ESOAÑOL.QUE SOMOS MILLONES QUE NO HABLAMOS INGLES Y AMAMOS A JESSIE NORMAN

  • @JustAThought155
    @JustAThought15510 ай бұрын

    You know, it’s America’s loss of marvelous power, talent, and innovation by embracing, endorsing, and operating with the lens of racism at the helm. How many other extremely talented world class brilliant individuals are hidden in our nation and from the global society because America continues to embrace the unspoken limitations placed on an entire sect of people due to the tone of their skin. Very very sad and honestly embarrassing.

  • @christophmuller1657
    @christophmuller16572 жыл бұрын

    Die Schönheit, in der Sie auch die deutsche Kunst (Mahler, Strauß, Wagner....) erstrahlen ließ ist unvergesslich. Sie war und ist der unerreichte Maßstab. Wer göttlich war, wird auch bei Gott sein.

  • @luispena8780
    @luispena87806 ай бұрын

    POR LO MENOS SIA HAY OTRO CANAL QUE NO LOS DIGA EN CASTELLANO, POR FAVOR INDIQUENLO EN CASTELLANO P❤😮🎉ARA OIRLO🎉

  • @Only60GamesPlayed
    @Only60GamesPlayed9 ай бұрын

    I KNEW A BLACK WOMAN WHO WORKED IN A CAFETERIA MUCH OF HER LIFE, I SUPPOSE! VERY COUNTRY IN THE WAY SHE WALKED AN TALKED! BUT WHEN RUTH JACKSON OPENED HER MOUTH TO SING, HER VOICE WAS BREATHTAKING. SHE SANG 1ST SOPRANO SO EFFORTLESSLY IN THE CHURCH CHOIR! HER VOICE WAS SO RAW, SHE CARRIED THE ENTIRE SOPRANO SECTION! THEN 2 OTHER 1ST SOPRANOS CAME ALONG, THE DIRECTOR HAD TO BREAK THEM DOWN IN TO 2 SECTION…1ST SOPRANO AND 2ND SOPRANO! IT WAS AMAZING!

  • @foropera
    @foropera2 жыл бұрын

    Why did she do all these lip sync vidéos around the 90's on her 70's studio recordings? It changes the Perspective.

  • @joevasquez3434
    @joevasquez34343 ай бұрын

    My good friend, opera singer; Stephen Cummingham. He also prefers German opera which I don't really understand since I have always thought that the German language is thee most ugly language in the world.

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  • @Marcel_Audubon
    @Marcel_Audubon2 жыл бұрын

    too many ads ... moving on

  • @dudeforcaster8630
    @dudeforcaster86302 жыл бұрын

    Yet another documentary spoiled by the stiff, affected, and pretentious Ms. de Niece who now is sporting a quasi English accent.

  • @aidepaul534
    @aidepaul5342 жыл бұрын

    She could do it all except a high C...

  • @JamesAHollandMusic
    @JamesAHollandMusic2 жыл бұрын

    Wow…..I usually love this series but this was painfully boring. I was never a Norman fan due to the repertory she sang but I watched this in hopes of gleaning more about the woman and artist. However; this is just a rundown of her roles. Very boring.

  • @BellaFirenze
    @BellaFirenze2 жыл бұрын

    Who is singing a portion of Lucia di Lammermoor? More importantly, why is that soprano -whoever she is- is a documentary about Jessye Norman? SHAME ON YOU.

  • @artdanks4846

    @artdanks4846

    2 жыл бұрын

    It's Joan Sutherland. And I'm sure the reason for playing a recording of Lucia was just to emphasize that Lucia was the first opera that Jessye Norman fell in love with, when listening to the Met broadcast. Although, since she was only 9 at the time, that would have been in 1954, so the soprano she would have been listening to would have been Lily Pons, and not Sutherland. Sutherland's first Lucia was at Covent Garden in 1959. (But I'd much rather hear her than Lily Pons!)

  • @thomasdidymus1855
    @thomasdidymus18552 жыл бұрын

    the problem with this (and indeed MANY) documentaries is they are just a series of hyperbole and hero worship when what it should be is info-tainment - some history and clips with fewer naked opinions and more actual pro analysis - just sayin - stopped watching early on and JN is one of my favorite singers

  • @TheSuzberry

    @TheSuzberry

    2 жыл бұрын

    You could have stayed and listened to JN sing.

  • @BellaFirenze

    @BellaFirenze

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@TheSuzberry Norman and whoever sang a portion of Lucia di Lammermoor.

  • @mannail888
    @mannail8882 жыл бұрын

    I disagree. That Norman could do it all is a gross exaggeration. To name just a few: she couldn't do Zerbinetta, Lucia, Elektra, Isolde, Brunnhilde or Medea.

  • @RaymondHng

    @RaymondHng

    2 жыл бұрын

    No soprano can do it all. There are subtypes of soprano: Lyric coloratura soprano (Adele, Alcina, Amenaide, Gilda, Ilia, Lakmé, Norina, Zerbinetta) Dramatic coloratura soprano (Anna Bolena, Donna Anna, Königin der Nacht, Lady Macbeth, Lucia, Lucrezia, Maria Stuarda, Norma, Semiramide, Thaïs, Violetta) Soubrette (Barbarina, Bastienne, Clotilde, Susanna) Light lyric soprano (Annchen, Clorinda, Despina, Euridice, Giulietta, Lauretta, Musetta, Pamina, Zerlina) Full lyric soprano (Wally, Mimi, Lulu, La Contessa, Micaela) Spinto soprano (Adriana, Aida, Desdemona, Leonora, Manon, Manon, Marschallin, Tosca) Dramatic soprano (Arabella, Ariadne, Cassandre, Gioconda, Mini, Salome, Turandot) Wagnerian soprano (Brünnhilde, Electra, Isolde, Senta, Ortrud) Jessye Norman is definitely not a coloratura soprano of any sort.

  • @beachfanatic2010

    @beachfanatic2010

    Жыл бұрын

    @@RaymondHng Callas could sing all of that and if Nilsson would have had coloratura she would have also been able to sing all of that.

  • @RaymondHng

    @RaymondHng

    Жыл бұрын

    @@beachfanatic2010 What German role has Callas sung?

  • @ransomcoates546
    @ransomcoates5462 жыл бұрын

    She benefitted from a strong will and very good publicists. The voice was short and oddly produced. Berlioz suited her very well, Sieglinde and Ariadne too. Little else did. And she sang very flat a lot.

  • @j.louisv.123
    @j.louisv.1232 жыл бұрын

    German; probably one of if not thee most ugliest language in the world. Miss Norman did help a very very tiny bit soften the totally disgusting sounds one makes with the human throat to speak such grotesque language.

  • @graziacavasino8884

    @graziacavasino8884

    2 жыл бұрын

    Dutch is MUCH uglier.

  • @beatricekarbaumer-jones6514

    @beatricekarbaumer-jones6514

    2 жыл бұрын

    I'm sure Mozart would have an appropriate response concerning your harsh opinion re the German language and its suitability for musical expression. So do I but am too polite to say it.

  • @graziacavasino8884

    @graziacavasino8884

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@beatricekarbaumer-jones6514 Mozart who? The one who wrote for many many many Italian librettos? Or the one who wrote for Latin texts?

  • @hrh4961

    @hrh4961

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@graziacavasino8884 Mozart composed operas to German librettos. Google is your friend.

  • @graziacavasino8884

    @graziacavasino8884

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@hrh4961 Google? I don't google. Maybe Google is your friend, not mine; I studied music history on BOOKS and I know what I'm talking about. Of course, I know Mozart composed operas for librettos in German. Stop talking about Mozart, he's a tremendously overestimated composer.

  • @celibidache1000
    @celibidache10002 жыл бұрын

    What a hopelessly one-sided hyperbole-laden documentary. She was loved and a stage-presence many enjoyed. But a great singer she was not. She had a very falsetto-dominant, hollow head voice, a woofy bottom range and next to no squillo whatsoever. Her jaw and tongue shakes which is the result of tensions. You can see how hard her neck muscles are working to compensate the lack of good technique. That's why her voice sounds big on recordings and when she was mic'ed, but surprisingly small on the opera stage.

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