Stand Up Straight and Sing! by Jessye Norman Read Free Book Online

feel the need to pretend that I had been pleased with the segment. Because he was a professional and this was surely not the first time he had come across a “dissatisfied customer,” he did not seem to take any offense at my statement of unhappiness. We soon found ourselves in conversation about other things, including the sheer beauty of Martha’s Vineyard.
    I, like too many other women, have also experienced financial shenanigans due to gender. Such was the case in one of my favorite European cities. It is a very old custom practiced in a number of theaters in Europe to offer performing artists their payment in cash, in small envelopes doled out by a member of the staff, most often during the intermission of a performance. This is not something that I enjoy, as I am often less than careful with my handbag, and most of my friends will tell you readily that I hardly ever carry cash. On this particular occasion, the person responsible for these payments appeared dutifully backstage and began his job of handing out the pay packets to the soloists. Mercifully, he had waited until the completion of the performance of the great Requiem of Giuseppe Verdi.
    No sooner had I begun to peek inside the envelope he’d offered me than this man circled back to say, “Oh, I made a mistake. I gave you the tenor’s large fee.” And with that, he pulled the fat envelope out of my hand and pushed a second, thinner envelope in my direction. “This is yours.”
    Rather surprised, I mustered, “I beg your pardon?”
    Confusion flooded his face. It was clear that he did not understand my question. Even though I did not raise my voice or furrow my brow, I made it plain that I perceived an injustice. I have no idea how much more the tenor was being paid, and I had not been unhappy with my own fee. What I cared about was that this organization had offered a male performer a larger fee and felt this to be proper behavior. Need I state that I have never performed with this organization again?
    My sense of self was inspired and nurtured by Janie Norman, her mother, her sisters, and the women who came before them—the people of whom I am fearlessly and wonderfully made. They taught me to speak out when necessary and to act, always. That is the “get on with it” that is steeped deep in my soul. It is my legacy as a “Little Norman”—a legacy of strength. A reverence for honesty and a will to speak to inequity when it rears its head, even in the form of a thinner envelope.
     
    Ave Maria  • F RANZ S CHUBERT  • Holy Mother
    ***
Ave Maria, Jungfrau mild,
Holy Mother, mild
Erhöre einer Jungfrau Flehen,
Hear the virgin’s prayer
Aus diesem Felsen starr und wild
From the untamed rocky ground
Soll mein Gebet zu dir hinwehen.
This prayer comes to thee.
Wir schlafen sicher bis zum Morgen,
We rest protected until the morning
Ob Menschen noch so grausam sind.
Although we people are unfaithful to Thy laws.
O Jungfrau, sieh der Jungfrau Sorgen,
Oh Virgin, look upon the virgin’s sorrows
O Mutter, hör ein bittend Kind.
Oh Mother, hear a praying child.
 
 
Ave Maria, unbefleckt,
Holy Mother, pure
Wenn wir auf diesen Fels hinsinken
We rest upon this hard ground,
Zum Schlaf, und uns dein Schutz bedeckt
To sleep under Your watchful care
Wird weich der harte Fels uns dünken.
The hard ground seems smoothed
Du lächelst, Rosendüfte wehen
Your joy brings the fragrance of roses
In dieser dumpfen Felsenkluft,
To this dark and rock filled ground
O Mutter, höre Kindes Flehen,
Oh Mother, hear the prayer of a child
O Jungfrau, eine Jungfrau ruft.
Oh Virgin, hear a virgin’s call.
 
 
Ave Maria, reine Magd.
Holy Mother, sacred of women,
Der Erde und der Luft Dämonen,
On this earth, we are protected from the
Von deines Auges Huld verjagt,
dangers of life
Sie können hier nicht bei uns wohnen.
Which cannot harm us.
Wir wollen uns still dem Schicksal beugen,
We take gladly the good fortune
Da uns dein heiliger Trost anweht;
That your holy strength