American Soprano Jessye Norman, 74, Who Brought a Sovereign Sound and Bearing to Opera, Concert and Recital Stages, has Died.

AMERICAN SOPRANO JESSYE NORMAN, whose plush, versatile instrument and sovereign bearing made her one of the most compelling and expressive singers of the past fifty years on the opera, concert and recital stages, has died.  

According to a statement issued by the soprano's family, Norman died of septic shock and multiple organ failure in New York City as a result of complications stemming from a 2015 spinal cord injury.

Born on September 15, 1945 in Augusta, Georgia, Norman earned her bachelor’s degree in music from Howard University before later studies at the University of Michigan and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore.

In 1968, she took first prize at the Munich International Music Competition, and, the following year, she made her professional opera debut as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Norman became an established star in Europe before appearing in earnest on U.S. opera stages, and she found acclaim in a number of the continent’s top opera houses as well as for a spate of splendid recordings and numerous concert appearances. Particularly admired in London and Paris, Norman did not make her United States debut until 1982, when she sang Stravinsky's Jocasta and Purcell’s Dido with the Opera Company of Philadelphia.

In 1983, Norman made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Cassandra in the Centennial Season-revival of Les Troyens, which played under the baton of James Levine. Other notable Met appearances included a performance at the Met Centennial Gala in 1983; Jocasta in Oedipus Rex; Ariadne/Prima Donna in Ariadne auf Naxos; Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle; Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites; the Woman in Erwartung; Kundry in Parsifal; Elisabeth in Tannhäuser; Sieglinde in Die Walküre; and Emila Marty in The Makropoulos Case. The soprano made her last appearance with the Met in a concert with James Levine and the Met Orchestra in 2002 in Baden-Baden.

https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2019/9/News/American_Soprano_Jessye_Norman.html?fbclid=IwAR3791Rm94wM16wVH46ZjW_YYDwnlLQCj4XLzrzkrxkqIs6_hjb44ii-7k4