Stand Up Straight and Sing! by Jessye Norman

Author:Jessye Norman [Norman, Jessye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Singer, Opera, Personal Memoirs, Music, Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Retail, Composers & Musicians
ISBN: 9780544003408
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2014-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

THAT OPENING NIGHT in Berlin would prove to have more surprises in store for me than for the audience! The second act, in which Elisabeth makes her first appearance, went very well. I was grateful to have the support of my more experienced colleagues, in particular the “always in voice and ready to perform” Hans Beirer, in the leading role, and Martti Talvela, with his rich bass-baritone voice, in the role of the Landgraf. Martti and I became lifelong friends, and I will always cherish the kindness he and his entire family have shown me over the decades.

I was in my dressing room preparing the costume change for the third act, with all the staff assistants from the opera house carrying out their various duties, when who should tap on the door but the general intendant himself, Professor Seefehlner. Of course I was delighted that he had been happy with my performance in the second act, but I was not at all prepared for him to state, then and there, that he wanted me to become a member of the opera house, and that he had brought the contract with him.

I responded by reminding him that we had not yet completed the opera. I still had act three to do.

He smiled and stated that he had heard me sing the aria from the third act in New York, and that he had been in the rehearsals and was confident that this act, too, would go well. I was nonplussed.

I stumbled over my words, saying something like “Well, Herr Professor, legalese is for all intents and purposes unreadable in English; I cannot imagine what it must be like in German.”

I added that my father had always impressed on me that I must never sign my name to anything before reading it thoroughly. Another smile came from Professor Seefehlner when I suggested that perhaps the folks at Amerika Haus would be able to help me with the translation. Professor Seefehlner asked if I would perhaps prefer to have an agent assist in the matter. Would an agent be absolutely necessary? I asked. And since it was not, I declined such assistance.

Before parting, Professor Seefehlner said that he wished me to have a wonderful time in the third act. “Something tells me you are going to be all right in this profession. No agent? Hmmm.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.