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As I was practicing this evening, there occurred a confluence of events that has cost me not only the remaining hours of today, but also my heart. (1)Working on some Wagner, wondering what the hell “sehr massig bewegt” really means as a tempo marking, so I decided to see what there was on Youtube. (2) Scribbled in the margin of my music, the advice of my singing teacher: “Listen to Jessie Norman.”
Turns out I misspelled her name, but I found her anyway. I hereby declare my rapturous and awestruck utter fangirl love for Jessye Norman. She was born in Augusta Georgia, September 15, 1945. She was singing gospel music in her church by age 4, and became an opera fan when she heard a radio broadcast at age 9. Since then, the list of her accomplishments is an enormous wall of text. This is a woman whose voice can do basically everything. She can sing the whole range of female voices, from deep contralto to the top of the dramatic soprano range. And she can act! and and and I tell you what, how about I show, rather than tell. Some of the following videos are long but I promise you, you will not regret the time you spend.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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