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![Listen to Wagner: Opera Scenes and Arias [2005 - Remaster] by Ambrosian Opera Chorus, James Mallinson, Jessye Norman, Klaus Tennstedt & London Philharmonic Orchestra](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music4/v4/54/e9/81/54e98132-3b13-783e-89f4-416646c8e692/724356998254.jpg/1380x1380bb.webp "Listen to Wagner: Opera Scenes and Arias [2005 - Remaster] by Ambrosian Opera Chorus, James Mallinson, Jessye Norman, Klaus Tennstedt & London Philharmonic Orchestra")
About Jessye Norman
Hometown
Augusta, United States of America
Born
1945
Genre
Classical
With her commanding dramatic soprano voice and transfixing stage presence, Jessye Norman ranks as one of the most influential figures in the history of modern classical singing. Born into a religious musical family in Augusta, Georgia, in 1945, Norman began singing in church as a child. She was exposed to opera by way of the Metropolitan Opera's Saturday radio broadcasts. Following graduate instruction at the University of Michigan and the Peabody Institute, she made her operatic stage debut in 1969 in Berlin as Elisabeth in Wagner’s Tannhäuser (1845). As her public profile rose, Norman became recognized for her ability with demanding Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire; today, she is considered one of the great interpreters of Richard Strauss’ vocal music, particularly for her Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) and her lauded 1983 recording of Strauss’ Four Last Songs (1945). Throughout her career, Norman also continued to champion adventurous 20th-century works, like those of Berg, Bartók, and Stravinsky. One of her central legacies at the Metropolitan Opera was her 1989 performance of Schoenberg’s atonal monodrama, Erwartung (1909), the first one-character production ever staged at the company. In the latter part of her operatic career, Norman sang at major political events and received numerous accolades, including a Kennedy Center Honor in 1997. In 2003, she founded her own school of the arts in her hometown, and she stayed active performing recitals until suffering a spinal cord injury in 2015. She passed away in 2019.
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