By ’79, Norman had given up Aida, which I believe she only performed in concert, so it’s a surprise to discover her stinging “Ritorna vincitor,” along with Santuzza’s aria from Cavalleria rusticana, an opera which, like Carmen, Fidelio, Salome, and Pénélope, she recorded but did not perform on stage.

Gurrelieder, on the other hand, was a work that Norman took on occasionally and recorded with Seiji Ozawa. I believe the Boston Symphony’s Elgar concerts in 1982 may have been her only encounter with Gerontius’s Angel.

Norman would have turned 80 this coming 15 September.

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

Angel: Jessye Norman
Gerontius: Stuart Burrows
Priest/Angel of Agony: John Shirley-Quirk

Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Boston Symphony Orhcestra
Conductor: Colin Davis
Symphony Hall
2 December 1982
Broadcast

Schoenberg: Gurrelieder

Tove: Jessye Norman
Waldtaube: Gwendolyn Killebrew
Waldemar: Wolfgang Neumann
Klaus: Philip Langridge
Bauer: John Tomlinson
Speaker: Günther Reich

BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus
Goldsmiths Choral Union
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Michael Gielen
Royal Albert Hall
10 August 1981
Broadcast

Verdi: Aida, “Ritorna vincitor!” and Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana, “Voi lo sapete”

Jessye Norman

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Robert Shaw
Atlanta
March 1979
Broadcast

Each Jessye Norman performance can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory.

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