Jessye Norman - Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer - Senta's ballad (live) 

asmik gregorian did a pretty great senta recently

nice

I hope your better half if you are married isn't named Erik!

Great

Indeed

She is gifted and a gift for all. nobody will never sing like Norman

YEP.

Yep.

She is so called “soprano sfogati” - the boundless soprano.

I think she could have been one of the great Wagnerian sopranos but she did not sing enough of the rep to be compared to Flagstad and Nilsson. If she had sung Brunnhilde or Isolde, which she did not, and sung them well I would agree.

@@williammaddox3339 She sang a magnificent Siegliende, though

Seems she sung a wide variety of composers,..is there any particular composers she excelled in? thanks!

@@williammaddox3339 true. Although she has sung excepts of Brunhilde and Isolde, she would not have been capable of performing them on stage. Brunhilde would require a lot of height in the voice and although Norman had a big voice, it is not a voice for the role of Brunhilde or Isolde.

​@@baritoneblazzin1965 Actually I think Isolde might have suited her voice; the tessitura lies low for the most part. I think Brunnhilde, especially in Siegfried, might have been too high for her voice.

+Alxny718 Bueno a Diva ! but not absolut yet...)

+the 5th element E' piu' di DIVA ASSOLUTA, E' LA DIVA DIVINA! Perche' ha scrtto "not absolu(e) yet?????????????????????????????

Don'cha know it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If only she were Jewish too it would be perfect lol

robert martin the thought of Hitler hearing his Wagner sung by a beautiful black woman.......

Black men and especially Black women have the pressure of having to work tremendously hard to achieve any note worthy status that is comparable to their white counterparts. Remember nothing was handed to Miss Norman on a plate. She trained in Germany because the US was deeply segregated . She learnt German within a short space of time to perform Tannhauser (Elizabeth) at the Berlin opera house in 1968. She then quickly picked up french and Italian. Miss Norman knew she had to set herself apart from the pack therefore her preparation is second to none as she will not sing an opera in a language she does not speak. She researches the story, the history the feeling and puts this enormous fountain of knowledge in the music and her voice, whilst her peers merely have a diction coach and you can tell this by the lack of nuance, passion and meaning. Excellence is the only thing Miss Norman knew and it's evident with her body of work. Let me remind you: Mariane Anderson, Leontyne Pryce, Kathleen Battle , Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Robeson, Simon Estes , to sport Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, Jack Johnson (others too many to mention) not only did these music and sports pioneers became the best in their field in the face of racial discrimination and bigotry, they proved that black people can do anything in this world and what they bring is something so unique, intense and special. Ella Fitzgerald , "The first lady of song" who had hit after hit in 1940's, 50's 60's with her truly astonishing voice and vocal range , still had to let white people pass first and in stores wait patiently while white customers just walked in front of her and were served first. This was hateful segregated America under Jim Crow legislation, the America that Miss Norman grew up under and It's this type of treatment and being viewed as "Lesser than" that fuels black excellence. Then "Shock horror" is the surprise of a Jessye Norman who set the bar high in a predominantly White, cultural, elitist operatic world. Confident, majestic, assured of her amazing talent and ability, with a belief that she could do justice to the works of the most revered and legendary composers, but is also a humanitarian and willing to give a voice to the less fortunate. I hope there comes a time when black achievement is considered normal practice and skin colour has less reference in the public arena but sadly the problem lies with the white establishment, both in the US and Europe. Their actions, behaviour, attitudes and legislation which are so subtle but the objective is often to curtail black achievement. Sadly this may never change.

@@axe7064 It has already begun changing in the USA. Those rising in politics are the children of the slaves from many generations passed. They are instituting programs and laws to make the lives of Black and Brown Americans a bit more just.

I don't think so.

Wagner may have been an anti-semite, but I don't think he was that kind of racist.

deadwalke Yes. What a loss.

Daniel Barenboim