The cover photo of Jessye Norman’s memoir "Stand Up
Straight and Sing!" is glamorous. Her luminous face is set in
mid-expression. The image seems to capture her singing the last note of
something special. The book cover tempts the reader to immerse herself in the
life of this singular artist.
For the opera lover there are many Jessye Normans. She was
the diva whose flawless voice embodied the diverse pantheon of operatic
heroines and villains. She was the marvel who performed France’s national anthem 'La
Marseillaise' at the bicentennial of the French Revolution. Resplendent in a
tri-color couture gown inspired by the French flag, Ms. Norman sang to a live
audience of millions in Paris. Unfortunately, opera fans will not find
many delicious details or behind-the-scenes stories about the world of classical
music in "Stand Up Straight and Sing!.” Ms. Norman only provides very light sketches
of her work with James Levine of the Metropolitan Opera and other conductors. After watching Ms.
Norman in Julie Taymor's inventive production of Oedipus Rex, reading a more substantive reflection of the
production from her would have been invaluable to the discussion of aesthetics in classical music productions. The most intriguing opera related story in the book is about Ms. Norman
helping a friend and fellow singer defect from East Germany.
"Stand Up
Straight and Sing!" is at its best when Jessye Norman shares stories about
her upbringing in segregated Augusta, Georgia. Tales of growing up in a
middle-class black community in the Jim Crow South are not commonly documented
in memoirs. She writes with love about her dedicated parents and credits them
with setting expectations that have defined her approach to living: "Be
conscious of one's choices, resolute in one's beliefs, and always maintain
integrity and a work ethic that demands concentration and focus." Even in
the midst of a loving community Norman could not escape the horrors of the
times. She recounts the story of a black man executed for raping a white woman.
According to Norman, the man and woman were caught by the police having
consensual sex in the man’s car. The woman feared the consequences of having
her interracial relationship exposed and claimed she was raped. The man was
arrested, tried, convicted and executed by electrocution. The woman was broken
by her lover's fate. “She would later be found wandering around various African
American churches throughout Augusta on Sunday mornings, asking for forgiveness
for what she had done; she could not find peace. When she found her way to a
church, she was allowed to speak, as was anyone who wanted to stand up and
testify before a congregation, whether it was to give thanks for the help that
a grandmother received during her illness, or for being hired for a new job.
Still, when this woman finished her apology and begged for forgiveness, the
church was often silent as there was no discussion.”
Living in a segregated environment and under laws that
conferred second-class citizenship upon her did not deter Jessye Norman. In
addition to her parents and elders in her community, Ms. Norman found strength
and inspiration in Marian Anderson. Ms. Norman writes about Ms. Anderson's concert
at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday 1939 with reverence. Marian Anderson
had been denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of
American Revolution. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt organized the concert at the Lincoln
Memorial in protest. Ms. Anderson's first song was a scathing rebuke of the
idiocy of American racism. She sang “My Country Tis' of Thee.”
“Stand Up Straight
and Sing!” is Jessye Norman’s testament to her phenomenal life.
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