# Jessye Norman Opinions



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am going to be doing a speech to my Toastmasters' Clubs about Jessye Norman later this spring and would like your input on her to help shape my talk, There was a time 20 years ago where I thought she was one of the gods of Olympus. My opinion of her has become more balanced now that I am older. Thanks. John


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Magnificent instrument, unusual in being hard to categorize. Her earliest recordings (e.g Haydn operas under Dorati) reveal a strong, full lyric soprano; at the end she sounded virtually like a dramatic contralto, and had a tendency to flat high notes. A fine musician, effective in any language and in everything from Lieder to dramatic opera parts. I never saw her imposing majesty on stage, but in YouTube clips she certainly has presence.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

One of my first DVD'S: Strauss, R: Ariadne auf Naxos

Jessye Norman (Prima Donna/Ariadne), Kathleen Battle (Zerbinetta), Tatiana Troyanos (Der Komponist), James King (Bacchus/The Tenor)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine, directed by Brian Large.

I was so stunned by the voice, however when the performance went on I felt sorry for her, the sweat on the face is almost embarrassing .
Good voice overall though :tiphat:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I never saw Jessye Norman in an opera, but I did hear her in concert a few times, and once as Didon in a concert performance of *Les Troyens* under Gennadi Rozhdestvensky!

I never quite _got_ the general Jessye Norman adulation. I always wanted to be more impressed than I was. Though she conveyed a full, open-hearted generosity in her singing, I never felt she had anything really specific to say about the music or the composer. The voice was a gloriously rich one, of course, but I never felt it really took off.

Admittedly I only ever heard her live in mezzo repertoire, or in repertoire more often associated with the mezzo voice, but, though I can't now remember specifics, I do remember always being a little disappointed, not overwhelmed in the way I expected to be.

From the concert performance of *Les Troyens* (performed on two separate nights), it was actually Felicity Palmer's Cassandre which made the greater impression. Norman glided through the role of Didon like a ship in full sail, but of Baker's inner pain and torment there was nothing.

I have to add that I was in a minority, that most people were completely satisfied with the generous outpouring of glorious tone, and she definitely had presence, but for me there was something missing.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I find her voice to be of a similar nature to that of Kiri Te Kanawa. Very good instruments at their peak, but curiously uninvolving. They sing the notes but don't sound as if they care what it is they are trying to express.


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## mahler76 (Mar 12, 2016)

Ι had the discomfort to listen to her live at the very end of her carrier (or maybe a very bad night) at the Herod Atticus Odeon in Athens some years ago so I can't have the best opinion of her from a concert. As of her recordings I get she has a powerful vocal instrument but she is more pompous than I would like her to be.


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2016)

Barbebleu said:


> I find her voice to be of a similar nature to that of Kiri Te Kanawa. Very good instruments at their peak, but curiously uninvolving. They sing the notes but don't sound as if they care what it is they are trying to express.


In my opinion you do have a point here,nevertheless I admire both singers.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

I think she's fantastic. She is my favorite interpreter (or among my favorites) for Berlioz's _Les nuits d'été_, Strauss's _Four Last Songs_, and Wagner's _Liebestod_. And she does a mean _Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix_:






Her memoir _Stand Up and Sing!_, published last year, is on my ever-growing to-read list. She has led a fascinating and inspiring life, from growing up in the segregated South to gracing the world's opera stages. She has also established a tuition-free music school in her native Georgia. By all accounts, a lovely person inside and out.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

My favorite parts of her voice are her chest voice and E5 to A5. I find her most thrilling before her weight loss. I saw her 3 times in concert and found her stage presence and the majesty of her voice overwhelming. She billed herself as a soprano, but the color and range were mezzo. She would have made the best Erda ever, but could never accept such a minor role. My pet peeve with regards to her is cameramen filming her singing up close. She looks better from a distance, especially if she gets sweaty. My favorite recording of hers is her Wagner recital disc when she was 350 pounds. Her Immolation Scene was truly spectacular. At her best it was the most beautiful voice I ever heard and the voice that moved me most emotionally because of the sound of her instrument.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Balthazar said:


> I think she's fantastic. She is my favorite interpreter (or among my favorites) for Berlioz's _Les nuits d'été_, Strauss's _Four Last Songs_, and Wagner's _Liebestod_. And she does a mean _Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix_


Funny how we differ. Her *Nuits d'Ete* comes a long way down my list. It's all too grande dame, with no real identification with the texts, and I note that the Berlioz scholar, David Cairns, agrees with me. Far preferable are Janet Baker, Eleanor Steber, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Victoria De Los Angeles.

I do quite like the *Vier letzte Lieder*, but find Masur's tempos much too slow. By the end it's almost ground to a complete halt. I also prefer a more soprano timbre; Schwarzkopf, Popp, Janowitz and Fleming are my favourites.

As for _Mon coeur s'ouvre_, the pace is so slow and so intent is she on milking every moment, that, like many others, she doesn't sing what Saint-Saens wrote, which is that the phrase _Ah reponds a ma tendresse_ be sung in one breath. Callas, at a slightly faster tempo, sounds both langorously sexy _and_ dangerous, and she also sings what Saint-Saens wrote.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> As for _Mon coeur s'ouvre_, the pace is so slow and so intent is she on milking every moment, that, like many others, she doesn't sing what Saint-Saens wrote, which is that the phrase _Ah reponds a ma tendresse_ be sung in one breath. Callas, at a slightly faster tempo, sounds both langorously sexy _and_ dangerous, and she also sings what Saint-Saens wrote.


I agree and I felt she held back on putting in more contralto richness down low which she was capable of and would have made it much sexier. Great high note, though.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Here is a true favorite aria of mine that I bet most of you never heard. This is from Euryanthe from when she was the size of a float at the Rose Bowl Parade. She has several ascents to High C, which were rare for her, and some lovely coloratura. What is glorious to me is the gliding between high, lyric soprano C's to a real contralto sound in the chest voice. This is really, really spectacular:



. This is also one of those pieces of music to be played at a suicide ward.... you can't be sad listening to this music. This recording was also notable in having Rita Hunter in young, fresh, spectacular voice!!!! Gorgeous!!!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

If you really want to be real about Jessye I think it only fair to mention that aside of her truly strong and beautiful singing voice, there is a side of her that seems to generate an anger and pompousness, especially among her colleagues -- and probably not without some deep reason. I am sure her color resulted in all kinds of problems and prejudice growing up which she somehow sadly has not been able to successfully come to grips with.
Anyone who has read her recent book will know what I am talking about. Perhaps it translates into a superiority complex as a cover stemming from an inferiority one.
Whatever, she certainly is one of the great talents voice-wise in our world today.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I was going to say I dont think she's as good as _she_ thinks she is. In her earlier career she was capable of great beauty, During her Live aid performance though the satelite link went down, I didnt mind.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

I think Greg Mitchell nailed it; he certainly did for me.

Jessye Norman has a rich, gorgeous voice and sings with beautiful warmth and benevolence of spirit.

But when it comes to ingenious dramatic shadings and inflections that are suitably appropriate to the lieder or to the operas that are being sung, I more often than not find myself listening to more psychologically compelling singers. 

Jessye Norman is 'Just Enormous'- but in voice only. . . well, maybe not 'just' in voice.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

One Jessye performance that really took me by surprise was her singing of the soprano part in the Verdi Requiem (yes soprano, not the mezzo part which she more usually took). It's in a Bavaraian radio broadcast under Muti. The other soloists are Baltsa, Carreras and Nesterenko, and it's available on YouTube. Jessye is fantastic, singing with a dramatic commitment, total involvement and real identification with the text I rarely hear from her. It's one of my favourite versions of the Libera Me ever. Absolutely thrilling.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Here is a true favorite aria of mine that I bet most of you never heard. This is from Euryanthe from when she was the size of a float at the Rose Bowl Parade. She has several ascents to High C, which were rare for her, and some lovely coloratura. What is glorious to me is the gliding between high, lyric soprano C's to a real contralto sound in the chest voice. This is really, really spectacular:
> 
> 
> 
> . This is also one of those pieces of music to be played at a suicide ward.... you can't be sad listening to this music. This recording was also notable in having Rita Hunter in young, fresh, spectacular voice!!!! Gorgeous!!!


I wasn't able to play the video here in the UK, but found the clip on spotify. Lovely singing, so light and airy. Hardly sounds like Jessye at all


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> My favorite recording of hers is her Wagner recital disc when she was 350 pounds. Her Immolation Scene was truly spectacular. At her best it was the most beautiful voice I ever heard and the voice that moved me most emotionally because of the sound of her instrument.


Is that the one with Tennstedt?


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Magnificent instrument, unusual in being hard to categorize. Her earliest recordings (e.g Haydn operas under Dorati) reveal a strong, full lyric soprano; at the end she sounded virtually like a dramatic contralto, and had a tendency to flat high notes. A fine musician, effective in any language and in everything from Lieder to dramatic opera parts. I never saw her imposing majesty on stage, but in YouTube clips she certainly has presence.


pretty much everything I was going to say, although she was never my cup of tea. certainly a lot to appreciate though.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Have been fortunate to see her a few times (though not in a staged opera performance): in the early 90's in a concert version of Bluebeard's Castle with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in recital in the late 90's, and just last year in a love-themed Valentine's Day recital at Carnegie Hall. A commanding stage presence and something of the infinite in that voice. Her recording of Four Last Songs was the emotional balm that got me through the month of September, 2001.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> If you really want to be real about Jessye I think it only fair to mention that aside of her truly strong and beautiful singing voice, there is a side of her that seems to generate an anger and pompousness, especially among her colleagues -- and probably not without some deep reason. I am sure her color resulted in all kinds of problems and prejudice growing up which she somehow sadly has not been able to successfully come to grips with.
> Anyone who has read her recent book will know what I am talking about. Perhaps it translates into a superiority complex as a cover stemming from an inferiority one.
> Whatever, she certainly is one of the great talents voice-wise in our world today.


I think you nailed it. She came from an amazing family ( her brother is a very very high ranking general in the Army) and was obviously very highly intelligent, but she was a Macon Georgia girl who adopted the manners of a Grand Duchess from Europe. She made audiences suffer for lack of AC because she felt it damaged " the intrument". She could be a real old fashioned DIVA... in both the good and bad senses of the word. I say all that, but I can't think of a voice that moves me more aesthetically and emotionally when she was fat. Also the shear monumentality of her presence both in size and grandeur made you feel you were in the presence of something special. I can now see past my blind adoration of her when I was younger that she wasn't a great interpreter. But she was able to bend a piece to be a showcase for "la Jessye". I appreciate all the feedback.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I think you nailed it. She came from an amazing family ( her brother is a very very high ranking general in the Army) and was obviously very highly intelligent, but she was a Macon Georgia girl who adopted the manners of a Grand Duchess from Europe. She made audiences suffer for lack of AC because she felt it damaged " the intrument". She could be a real old fashioned DIVA... in both the good and bad senses of the word. I say all that, but I can't think of a voice that moves me more aesthetically and emotionally when she was fat. Also the shear monumentality of her presence both in size and grandeur made you feel you were in the presence of something special. I can now see past my blind adoration of her when I was younger that she wasn't a great interpreter. But she was able to bend a piece to be a showcase for "la Jessye". I appreciate all the feedback.


I have sometimes found her a very fine interpreter in song repertoire where she curbs her "monumentality" quite effectively. I love her _Wesendonck Lieder_ and her _Four Last Songs._


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Jessye Norman "Dich teure Halle" Tannhauser 
Found this one S.O.F...... enjoy.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I own her Brahms lieder and her Elsa in Lohengrin.
I am happy to own them, but I don't actively seek to collect her as I do some other singers.


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## SoleilCouchant (May 4, 2017)

Seattleoperafan said:


> She made audiences suffer for lack of AC because she felt it damaged " the intrument".


Haha, that made me laugh. I hate being cold (I get cold very easily) and I can see that feeling tense and huddled would stress both the throat and body. I wouldn't have minded being in one of her hot no AC concerts! Although I know your point is more the diva behavior. But who knows, maybe it was true for her [voice]? If people paid money to hear her strong booming warm voice in person and it came out cramped, they'd probably be mad at that, too. 

I like her, she is a powerhouse. But I don't have anything much to add about how well or not well she interprets things. I found that concert performance of mon coeur s'ouvre à sa voix to be amusing because I could follow her "thinking" through it. In the beginning she was trying to come across as all timid and vulnerable (Dalila's ruse) but by the end she seemed to go full evil, once she knew she "had" him and I thought that was interesting. I guess...I like when people are expressive enough that there is a strong/clear impression given as to their (the character's) thought process. I watched a ton of videos of that aria and Elena Cernei's and hers are the two that stood out the most to me.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I heard her in recital back in the 1980s. A glorious voice. I too have her Four Last Songs plus a disc of Brahms lieder and a "Greatest Hits." 

Back in February I sat by her at a small recital given by a friend of mine. The next performance in that series is tomorrow. I wonder if she'll be there again.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

A fine singer.
A lousy book writer.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

she is a rare example of a voice I would consider _too_ dark. I wish she would have stuck to dramatic mezzo/contralto rep, because there was zero brightness in the voice and nothing soprano-y sounding at all. her rendition of Dido and Delilah are amazing, but her soprano rep...doesn't do a whole lot for me.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> A fine singer.
> A lousy book writer.


Your dry humour always make me smile.


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## kirolak (May 8, 2017)

I love her opera, but her Lieder. . . not so much (how dare I ? but still, that is the truth. . .)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

kirolak said:


> I love her opera, but her Lieder. . . not so much (how dare I ? but still, that is the truth. . .)


Freedom of speech is highly regarded on this forum, never liked the Four Last songs hype.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

What hype? Her "Four Last Songs" are superb - one of her best recordings, I think.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I know a lot of people who did buy just because the neighbours bought it, is that's the hype as for the recording I prefer Popp and the "live"Janowitz"/ Haitink by miles................


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> I know a lot of people who did buy just because the neighbours bought it, is that's the hype as for the recording I prefer Popp and the "live"Janowitz"/ Haitink by miles................


You actually know a _lot_ of people who listen to things like the "Four Last Songs," and who have _neighbors_ who do as well? What sort of classical music paradise do you live in?! Are all Dutch children sung Strauss's "Wiegenlied" in their cradles?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> You actually know a _lot_ of people who listen to things like the "Four Last Songs," and who have _neighbors_ who do as well? What sort of classical music paradise do you live in?! Are all Dutch children sung Strauss's "Wiegenlied" in their cradles?


Can't speak for other children but I had piano lessons when about six years old.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Am I the only one that finds her music videos where the older, slimmer Jessye does drag queen lip synching to arias she recorded when she was young, fat and fabulous rather ostentatious???? I am going to hell for saying that. BTW, her HUGE voice soaring through the 4 Last Songs is everything... in my opinion. That crescendo in the middle of the 3rd song is jaw dropping. That area around F and G is the biggest part of her voice.


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