米ソプラノ歌手ジェシー・ノーマンさん死去、７４歳

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】荘厳でありながら心地よい声を世界各地のオペラハウスやオーケストラで披露し、最も尊敬されていた現代オペラ歌手の一人だった米国のソプラノ歌手ジェシー・ノーマンさんが9月30日、死去した。74歳だった。家族が明らかにした。（写真は米国のソプラノ歌手ジェシー・ノーマンさん）
　ＡＦＰが入手した広報担当者の声明によると、グラミー賞の受賞歴もあるノーマンさんは、２０１５年に受けた脊髄外傷に伴って起きた敗血症性ショックと多臓器不全によって、米ニューヨークの病院で「愛する人たちに囲まれて」亡くなった。
　ノーマンさんは１９４５年９月１５日、米ジョージア州オーガスタ生まれ。４歳でゴスペルを歌い始め、幼い頃からラジオでオペラを聴いた。若い黒人女性の先駆けとして白人の世界だったクラシック音楽界に入ると、その天に舞い上がるような声と快活な性格ですぐに人気を集めた。
　２度の米大統領就任式や、１９９６年のアトランタ五輪の開会式などの大舞台でも歌声を披露した。フランス芸術文化勲章の最高章コマンドールも授与された。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/10/01-11:52）

Superstar singer Jessye Norman, an American soprano who showcased her majestic yet intimate voice at opera houses and orchestras around the world, died Monday, her family said. She was 74 years old.
One of the contemporary era's most revered opera singers, the Grammy-winner died surrounded by loved ones at a New York hospital due to septic shock and multi-organ failure, the result of complications from a spinal cord injury sustained in 2015, according to a statement obtained by AFP via a spokeswoman.
We are so proud of Jessye's musical achievements and the inspiration that she provided to audiences around the world that will continue to be a source of joy, said her family.
Born September 15, 1945 in Augusta, Georgia, Norman grew up surrounded by music as one of five children in a family of amateur artists.
She made a foray into gospel at age four, and as a young girl began listening to radio broadcasts of performances at the Metropolitan Opera, where she would go on to star.
I don't remember a moment in my life when I wasn't trying to sing, she told NPR in 2014.
A pioneering young black woman in the white world of classical music, Norman quickly became beloved for her soaring voice and effervescent personality.
She studied music at the historically black college Howard University in Washington before going on to the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Michigan.
She established herself in Europe in the 1970s, making her operatic debut in Berlin in 1969 before wowing elsewhere on the continent including Italy. She eventually moved to London and spent years performing recital and solo work.
Norman became the youngest person in a two-decade history to earn a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor at age 52 in 1997, and president Barack Obama bestowed her with a National Medal of Arts.
She has performed at two presidential inaugurations, the opening ceremonies of the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996, and at the Bicentennial of the French Revolution in Paris in 1989.
The superstar singer was also a Commander in France's Order of Arts and Letters, and has an orchid named after her there.