Jessye Norman - Brünnhilde's Immolation 2/2

[berickson925]

3:26 Sir Simon Rattle on Trombone!

[andremad75]

A glorious Brünnhilde.

[wTrevorh]

Another splendid performance by Jessye, who always is so dramatic in her delivery; so much passion in her face and voice.. And to the conductor, kurt Masur, a job well done here.

Thanks for sharing "violinthief"

[Whaleshark69]

Jessey ist wirklich eine der größten Stimmen des Jahrhunderts, aber Brünnhildes Schlussgesamg ist nicht Ihr Fach. Warum tut sie sich das an? Jessey mit ihrem dunklem Timbre eines vollendeten Mezzos kann das einfach nicht. Ihre Siglinde in der Levine Aufnahme ist phänomenal und mir persönlich die Liebste, aber doch nicht die Brünnhild, Einzige Mezzo die es wirklich gut geschafft hat, war Christa Ludwig in einer einzigen Studio.Aufnahme, aber sie war klug genug es niemals live zu singen.

[mstantei]

Sie sollte besser die Finger von Wagner lassen. Das war gar nichts!

Hervorragende Leistung des Maestros Kurt Masur!Bravo!

[Annasea666]

marvelous...granted she's not a heroic soprano...

[Pywacket2]

What friendishly difficult vocal lines. Norman is splendid, especially with the gigantic NYP on her back. Magnificent.

[Pywacket2]

Brilliant!

[persa147]

WAGNER Y NORMAN, LA COMBINACIÓN PERFECTA!!!!

[MsStarmusic]

Stupid audience, they started clapping much too early, feels like an interuption.

[OperaMystery80]

Again I maintain that Jessye did a fabulous job here. This was a telecast concert which aired on PBS around '95 or '96 for the then NY Philharmonic '95/'96 season's Wagner program. I remember the broadcast well. They had a segment on leitmotifs. Jessye had been singing opera since the 70's! This was late in her career but I think she's magnificent here. The highest notes were probably unmanageable for her because she had already sung that high for 20 years!!!

[iubanne]

no. no.

[erinsmom0604]

Awesome even though this isn't her best work.

[Chrysothemis]

It's just not right for her, and please give her due credit for trying it out in concert and then having the good sense not to actually attempt it on stage. She was very fine as Kundry and Sieglinde, and that's what she should be remembered for.

[baritonebynight]

She's in trouble here...even world class singers like Norman are human and are allowed to have less than perfect performances all the time. Even though technically she struggles, she stays in the role and gets through it with dignity. She knows she missed the high notes, but once one has started supporting too high its almost impossible to fix it in performance. A lesser singer in trouble wouldn't have finished it. Despite the flaws, she still commands the stage graciously.

[foropera]

Ohh! :-(

At 5:00 it seems that everything breaks. One of these moments when you would feel like to fly away I suppose. She was not in good physical shape this day, because around the 90's she could sing perfectly Alceste which lays at the same height, but not with this orchestra!

[bumzurvaj]

LOL YAY GO BRUNHILDE!!!!!!!!!!!

[newhotmailit]

i think u can not compare norman to nilsson. two different types of singing. two different technics. norman at the end is a very long mezzo soprano and this aria is of course to high for her and she's fighting with her breath. nilsson is more static and sovereign over the whole aria, but finally i prefer Jessye Norman giving more emotion than every other singer....

[TheVerdiBaritone]

For those of you who heard Norman live, you know she had a huge voice. However, it did not "cut" through the orchestra. Her range was mezzo to soprano. Although she did NOT like to be characterized, this role is too high for her.

[sergenovique]

miss, please, half a tone higher!!!

[jonhi1]

She sounds like she has a cold....but one can imagine the sound if she did'nt

[TerrancePogue]

it wasnt the Best of Jessye But it wasnt as bad as people made it seem jeese cut her a break.... THERE IS NOT ANOTHER VOICE LIKE THIS ONE....

[wicator]

What I thinks is not that the rol was to heavy for her voice, but that her voice was too heavy for the role. Wagner (not all Wagner is the same) should be sung light, like everything, and is needed to have the correct instrument to be at ease singin it. Norman, a great artist with a beautifull voice, maybe had not the instrument for Brunhilde.

[DIVOTENOR]

With whatever problems she may have had this night,had I been there I would have probably had a heart attack..I love this woman!!!

[ledormant]

She's beautiful !

[MastersoftheOpera]

I own her Wagner album which contains the Liebestod, Elisabeth's Hall Aria & Brunhilde's Immolation. She sings with a more polished voice in the recording and it's truly glorious. Jessye is a grand Brunhilde. For me, the best singers of the Immolation are Flagstad, Nilsson, Varnay and Norman. Her German repertoire is very good & I've loved her Salome, her Ariadne Auf Naxos, her Fidelio and her Brunhilde.

[Thespian01]

Who cares about any flat notes. This is Jessye Norman. Ultimately the best.

[4lebenbaum]

Well, I love Norman -- but not in this role. Unfortunately, she is awfully flat throughout the aria. For comparison's purpose, listen to Birgit Nillson's performance with Georg Solti here on youtube, and you will understand what is quite disturbing. Just listen and compare!

[violinthief]

@4lebenbaum Nilsson makes an interesting contrast to Norman. Nilsson sang consistently sharp, something she admitted. She said you should always sing in tune, but that a little sharp is better than a little flat. For perfectly accurate singing from the greatest Wagnerian soprano, listen to Flagstad. She had perfect pitch and never wobbled with intonation. Coupled with Furtwangler as conductor, their recording stands above the rest (and just happens to be on my channel).

[Greatfan]

@violinthief I love Flagstad too but miss in her the freedom at the top that Nilsson had. As for Norman, she is to me a great mezzo and here the soprano tessitura seems to be difficult for her. On the other hand she seems not to use the old thing of the MASK and so when she is tired the tops sound flat. A great singer and artist though. A bit too self - conscious.

[newhotmailit]

@Greatfan i totally agree!!! she misses the old italian bel-canto mask putting the high notes in a different place....

[goldengod077]

Agree whole heartedly

[chmaunzman]

yes, unfortunately you are right. very disappointing - remmeber her stunning sieglinde?

[ribonucleic]

I freely admit to being a Norman groupie so dismiss my comment if you like. But I still say that even her flat notes convey more emotion and grandeur than other singers' accurate ones. And my God, what stage presence! Whatever else you want to say, that did not sound like a disappointed audience to me..

[langleywil]

I have listened to this numerous times and I just cannot hear anything flat...lol. I know the end is pretty tough on her voice at this point, but i just cannot hear where it's flat. Anyhow, I'm so excited to see her next month!! LOL

[promptersbox]

Falt is flat. Every third note under pitch. Ugly, throaty sound. Short top.

Really quite awful.

[gyorgy11]

@ribonucleic I see and sense the grandeur but she just puts me off, every time she goes for a high note I wonder how close (or more accurately, how far beneath) she will get. And frankly, sometimes the answer is, "not very." The musicianship is impeccable but she will never be my favorite.

[AlexCorralejo]

You have to have secure c'''s or you are lost

[Pywacket2]

Magnificent! Jessye has always been the ultimate Wagnerian and Kurt Masur a genius on the podium. Oh, to have been at Avery Fisher Hall for that performance.

[langleywil]

For those of you that want to hate on this legend...let me just say that had you BEEN THERE, you would've walked away feeling very very different. Don't talk crap about a legend. It's rude....

[mrboombasticx]

Though it's a bit too fast in my opinion, that's still some darn graceful playing by the orchestra. I think they handle the music with just the right mix of buttery elegance and fiery voracity, the combination of which is enough to form goosepimples!

[spinto12]

while the tessitura of the Immolation Scene was a bit taxing for Ms. Norman, she still manages to utilize her unwavering vocal technique and command of text to give an inspiring performance of a role that might have been. i would have loved to have heard her beautiful, rich Falcon soprano in the role of the Walkure Brunnhilde. i wish she might have alternated between that and Sieglinde.

Majestic as usual!

[CorrettaSinger]

Beautiful, Beautiful, I am in awe of her....I admire her so...a Stong, proud woman, graceful in age...I cannot believe To hear people bashing this woman...you all sing it then if you think it's that simple.

Sometimes the weak-minded and insecure need a platform to try and make themselves feel important by critiquing everything they come in contact with. I'm sure one of them will try to counter my comment in a hurry.

[MastersoftheOpera]

This is a very good renditon of Brunhilde's Immolation. Yes, Jessye Norman is at the time of this video a veteran opera singer. However, for someone her age, it's remarkable. Not all Brunhildes have to sound like their voices can soar into the skies. She has a grave sounding, regal voice and her dark timbre adds a touch of severity to the scene (after all she's looking back at all that happened and she decides to end her life by leaping into Siegfrie'ds funeral pyre). Jessye sings wonderfully

[jonhi1]

She got through it...Thank God as a singer myself I know what she's going through..wow

[havetohavemusic]

I'm not musical enough to comment on the faults. But she must surely have known beforehand, and I think she's a proud woman; so I think it shows respect for the audience not to have cancelled. If I'd have been there, I wouldn't have been wanting a refund.

[havetohavemusic]

"seraphic transfiguration": nice. She does a good Seraph, as well as Demigods, Queens and tragic Greek heroines.

[lilleeWAfot]

Masur is a lousy Wagnerian!No control, too fast towards the end, and no clarity.Norman fighting a gallant losing battle!

[philipc67]

Impressive voice, but she does NOT have the notes, more than half of the high notes are sung flat. If you cannot sing a scene as written in the correct tone, then do not sing it!

[Yaamoesje]

Have you ever seen a perfect performance withouth any error? I don't think so, you must realize how difficult it is to get everything right. Errors do slip in because of the pressure everybody has during performances... And all mr/ms/mrs Perfect should shut up because they don't really realize it.

[rogernldw]

All her high pitch of notes are fault!!!!!!!!!!

[CreaturaDura]

The last of the Great Black Opera Stars, the bitter end of their brief 34 year reign during which their wide strong dramatic voices filled the great halls. Norman sings an Immolation from which this quote comes: "Sisters, I give you back what you long for. From my ashes take what is yours and may the fire that burns me cleanse...." Good Night Singers! I cry! Good Night!

[cucharita87]

Este video es maravilloso, máxime cuando canta esta singular mujer con un talento digno del caudal sonoro de su voz.

[WagnerNietzsche]

Brilliant! Great conducting by Kurt Masur!

[whatever456]

I loved her in her day. I saw her do this with the San Francisco Symphony a year or two before this concert and she sang Ah Perfido and the Immolation and was in great voice. Here she is exhausted and FLAT. There is no question. But she is 50 and had been sining difficult music for 25 years. Though I always thought her technique was suspect

I don't know about the soprano vs. Mezzo argument that has been going on around her singing forever. Maybe a Falcon?

[Dymension]

I have her singing the mezzo part in the Mahler 2nd. No other mezzo in my mind has come so close to the ideal in Urlicht. She sounds like mother earth with her rich low voice. I would have liked her to switch to mezzo singing parts like Fricka much the same way many Wagnerian divas of the past did. This would have extended her career by at least 15 years...

[silvr94]

At 3:13 she is much too flat!! Instead of a B-flat she is singing an A or something!

[rrobicon]

Unbelieveable! This woman is an earthquake. How exciting to see her face working so hard and still looking so gorgeous.

When she took her bow, my daughter was relieved that she DOES have arms.

[ImTreibhaus]

Now that was a charming and funny comment. My warm and kind regards,

[Babs22h]

also... to finish my comment to wotansings. she is certainly not a coloratura so the idea of her singing norma is kinda ludicrous.Maybe she might have been better suited to do pieces from soprano roles in concert like this through her career and not taken on a fully realized"ring" .... night after night would be brutal...

[mrboombasticx]

I love it. It's a bit fast, but I still love the fullness and richness of the orchestra.

[domesongwish]

Still, it is exciting to hear someone doing something to his/her limit. In this case, I can actually believe that Brunnhilde is a real and raw woman. I love it.

[Laeliapurpurata]

When I was a girl I used to pretend I was Bruennhilde, with my horse... jumping into fire! How heroic!

[Chrysothemis]

Wow... wouldn't it have been amazing if she had been able to sing it properly? I love the color of her voice and her musicality, but this is just beyond her technique. Too bad.

[skyeomania]

...alles weit unter dem Notenwert und distoniert.

[rrobicon]

Beckmesser! was soll "weit unter dem Notenwert" bedeuten? zu schnell? zu kurz gehalten?

[rometube]

translation, per favore

[rwagner83]

Norman's voice is beautiful, but this music of Wagner and his orchestration are superlative!!

[Lindow]

Ooooh, I never thought I'd see this fabulous and ever so secure singer in such trouble. She must have been sick that night.

[JMR6916]

Who plays bass and contrabass trombone?

I recognize Joe Alessi and David Finlayson

[urgrad03]

Dear, sweet Jesus. Pancakes.

[chacowhacko]

defines flat for my generation. Still love her and always will, though.

[jonhi1]

skinboy8....I want to hear you sing it!!!

[mryankel]

She really wore this out. You bashers need to get a pitch pipe; flatness you hear?!?! Hone in on her voice with your ear to the speaker when the soaring vocal line is happening around 4:31. Diva Norman is the paragon among all paragons!

[fluteness]

This is a wonderful performance of the Immolation. I am a flutist and I have performed this piece in the past. We all know that the NY Phil is known for their technicality; not their expressiveness. The tempo was a bit rushed, but it was very effective for the climax, and Diva Norman extended her hand to Seigfreid!! The Immolation is a large role to sing, and Jessye Norman did a marvelous job singing. All of you bashers need to add your recordings of this work to youtube so we can compare.

[jonhi1]

I guess she only scratched a few notes out of the almost half hour of singing this full aria, But was it really that bad? No NoNo I dont thinks so show me a soprano of her caliber right now who can pull it off gracefully, and fully

[grig035]

Christine Brewer

[archcorenth]

Of course, everything about Levine's Ring Cycle was awful, but I don't know what he was thinking casting Hildegard Behrens as Brunhylde and sticking Jessye Norman with Sieglinde, and forcing her to play against on of the worst tenors in music. If I were to cast my own ring, it would be Jessye Norman as Brunhilde, Waltraud Meier as Sieglinde and Levine and Behrens not in the picture. (possibly Kent Nagano conducting)

[agabusdawatchman]

REGARDLESS...this woman is a true sacred monster and she's done wonderful!

[Laeliapurpurata]

I don't care, I still love Norman.

[pawdaw]

Jessye recorded this with Klaus Tennstedt earlier in her career- and it was a knockout, she could definitely do full justice to it. Yes the highest notes are perhaps a little beyond her by this stage- but how many sopranos have we heard wobble and shriek their way through this- without any of the range of vocal colors and imaginative handling of the text that Jessye gives us?

[jonhi1]

I think this piece was something that she wanted to try. through out her career she has been wise but here she may of felt like she has nothing to loose. I give her credit for thinking outside the box, and to her credit she is pulling it off very well.

[wotansings]

i think you all are going to kill me but her top register sounded always a little difficult... in my sense she was (is) a mezzo with a large top register. the medium always sounded mezzo...in the 80s the annouced Isolde and even Norma, she never did it... wise decision!

[Babs22h]

very true I heard rumors in the eighties of her possibly doing il travotore... it must have been difficult for her... because she has this extremely powerful voice but never really had the tessitura of a true blue drmatic soprano... and to be offered all of these top soprano roles... norma? i didnt know that! norma on top of il travtore? would have killed her voice.

[balladtree]

poor jessye... my absolute favorite singer... but this sounds very difficult for her... maybe she was sick?? still.. this role seems a little too large. I'm scared every time i hear G and above lol.

[4lebenbaum]

Reluctantly, I have to agree with your assessment, especially her attempts to assay the Gs and above. I think perhaps Nilsson still owns the role.

[melbapatti]

Unfortunately she was not having a "bad day." This was the public meltdown which essentially ended her supremacy as the most sought after soloist in the world (the performance is the opening of the season in September 1995). She was 50, and her muscular way of singing simply wore out her upper range. I heard her 5/1/08 at Carnegie Hall. Same problem. Notes at the top of the staff were flat. Those of us who love her were kind to her, but younger people in the audience were cruel.

[BeauTenor]

I'm not sure what you mean by "public meltdown", as though she were a mental case a la Kathy Battle, and no one would work with her. Norman had a reputation for being a bit difficult, yes, and she commanded HUGE fees. But, I think one has to remember that she has battled Lupus for many years, and it is a debilitating disorder that really wipes you out. If she were exhausted by the illness, it's no wonder she wore herself out. I was under the impression her 5/1 concert was the 1st in many years.

[skinboy8]

The comment still stands, though - if your voice is no longer up to it, for whatever reason, bow out gracefully.

[martello79]

She already sounds exhausted in the beginning...

I am a big fan of Mrs Norman, but being a fan of her means knowing only too well hoe great this woman could sound. And that is definitively not the too flat, pushing and short-of-breath singing she does here. Jessye Norman is a great soprano with the right dramatic sound and interpretation in a large palet of roles, but for the big dramatic german parts like Brunnhilde and Isolde live on stage her voice was not suited at all.

[siniav]

She gets exhausted by the end... sings all too low and runs before the orchestra, always faster and faster in the final part. Interesting but not a true interpretation. Just an experiment. Like with Carmen...

[foropera]

What a striking face and singing. I don't know from what year it is, but she seems slimmer... and also the high notes are low, but it doesn't really matters in fact. Thank you to share it.

[courtjesting]

WOW!

[AmericanEvita]

She also sings the Immoation on her Wagner album conducted by Klaus Tennstedt recorded in 1988 on EMI. She has the appropriate dark and dramatic voice for Brunnhilde in Gotterdammerung (maybe not for Walkure and Siegfried) but this is possibly the best Immolation Scene I've ever heard. She is singing with a lot of passion and sincerity deep from her soul and she likes doing it too. I love her!

[wotansings]

So listen to Helen Traubel and Toscanini in 42, to Eileen Farrell and de sabatra in 56 (i think, I am not quiet sure). They are at least as good. Or better.

[andreasscholl]

There are more mezzos that have sung Brünhilde...Horne!!!

[kgarmaker123]

And they are kidding themselves if anyone prefers them singing this to a real soprano, with the thrust and brilliance that the music requires.

[477865211]

To see her sing this peice is a treat! Wow! she dose very well- I like when she hits high notes dead on! instead of swooping up to them, I think this is the problem. her vocals are rich, so its best to cast the voice out instead of swooping "Forte" if one can, but brava jessye norman.

[jlee800]

Even though she must have been having a bad day, it's so great to see her sing this piece. She's one of my favorite singers but I would not have ever thought she would ever have sung the Immolation Scene until I stumbled on this. This has got to be the most testing piece for a dramatic soprano. I almost feel privileged seeing this.

[AmericanEvita]

She sang it on EMI records under Klaus Tennstedt in '88. She sings it a lot better here (New York Philharmonic/Lincoln Center) because it's live and not a fancy studio recording. She's very impassioned and dramatic and really acting the hell out of this part !!

[violinthief]

AmericanEvita - you say you don't want to cause controversy, but you are the one injecting Norman's race into the discussion. The previous 17 comments made no mention of it. Jessye is a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice, period. Brunnhilde and Isolde are a bit heavy for her voice; her Sieglinde and Elisabeth, on the other hand, are remarkable (I heard her sing Elisabeth in person - wow!). And on Strauss Lieder, she puts most everyone to shame.

[saxamaphoneguy1]

@violinthief If we are to think of Wagner, we can't forget her Elsa!!!! Her recording of Lohengrin is what introduced me to Wagner, and changed my life! She is an incredible talent. Of course, while Elisabeth and Sieglinde are more suited for her voice, I love to here the excerpts of Brunnehilde and Isolde in concert. Strauss is closer to my heart than even Wagner is, and i can say plainly that very few rival her 'four last songs'...they are absolutely breathtaking.

[Matthewcoakley08]

Not her best performance, but she has the voice to play the role I think.

[musicadei]

Brava diva!

[schicchi1160]

I love norman like any other fan of hers. But let's be real here. This was awful. flat flat flat flat flat.

[dhng1982]

Agree. Like her, but this must have been a bad day for her.

[urgrad03]

No.

[jetsetjordan]

I love the fast tempo as we get the the end.

[godivapaw]

I disagree with you Viva! I think that even though I do not see Jessye as Brunnhilde, I do see her as a Wagnerian soprano. What she may lack in piercing tone (she has more of a bronze glow to her voice) she makes up for her overwhelming stage presence!

[BDSCalgary]

Very Admirable! Yes, there are times she sounds below pitch (not exactly flat, but below center), but with rich dark voices like this, one seldom gets the upper overtones in recording. Could have been a bad night. Still, wonderfully sung. By the way, Nilsson was ALWAYS sharp. We are used to her vibrant piercing sound, and Norman is a bit dark for what we are used to. I still oved this rendition, even if the upper notes at the end were a bit "tired" and off.

[balladtree]

oh my... this wasn't Jessye's best.... she must be sick. i still LOVE U JESSYE!

[violinthief]

In her defense, Norman was singing a role slightly too big for her voice, and the conductor was rushing. Still, I have no explanation for why she hit so many notes on the low side. Maybe an off night - but since Nilsson, who can do much better than this?

[andreasscholl]

Maybe she is just not having her day?

Or is she getting older..?

[VoyArrasando]

Am i the only one who wants a Jessye wig? jessye-licious!!

[Babs22h]

um hello!we are going to be battling over the jessye wig huney!j/kthe woman has the most fabulous wigs...and makeup!

[TheEdibleDormouse]

I now totally want big diva hair extensions. She certainly understands how to give the audience glamour and showbiz!

[jonhi1]

I will double that WOW

[nibelungensohn]

A heartfelt rendition. Love it. Better than most of the barkers and bellowers out there.

I wonder what the DVD Met Ring would be like if they got her to do Brünnhilde instead of the unsteady Behrens.

[VivaMariaCallas]

Flagstad/Furtwangler, of course, is spectacular. The most opulent Wagner voice paired with perhaps, next to Knappertsbusch, the greatest Wagnerian conductor.

[VivaMariaCallas]

I don't think Norman was in the best vocal condition here... she's quite frequently flat & sounds a bit pushed, which is understandable (as she is more natural as Sieglinde in Walkure).

Masur's conductin here, unfortunately, is so rushed!

[violinthief]

Good points. However, since Nilsson and Varnay retired, there has not been a true Wagnerian soprano - Norman makes a valient attempt. Masur could pace things better. Check out my Flagstad/Furtwangler version to hear perfection.

[VivaMariaCallas]

Norman does make a good attempt- her Immolation scene is more successful (quite impressive, in fact) in her studio recording.

Sadly, you're quite right about the lack of true Wagnerian soprano voices (as in the Brunnhilde/Isolde type) since Nilsson & Varnay (though I don't like Varnay's voice). There have been inspired interpretations, but no 'true' Wagnerian voices.

[jetsetjordan]

We had Jane Eaglen.

[scargo1013]

OMG...

[scargo1013]

Wow!!!!!!!