Deborah Voigt
(born August 4, 1960) is an American opera singer known for her vibrant dramatic soprano voice, which soars easily over heavy and dense orchestration. She is famous for her interpretations of Strauss and Wagner roles, including Isolde in Tristan und Isolde
, Sieglinde in Die Walküre
, Elsa in Lohengrin
, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser
, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer
, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos
, Chrysothemis in Elektra, the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten
, the title role in Salome
, Helen in Die ägyptische Helena
, Marie in Friedenstag
, and Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. Her most recent role was Alceste
. Voigt regularly performs in opera houses and concert halls worldwide. In 2002, she was honored as a Chevalier of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contributions in music.
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DEBORAH VOIGT TICKETS
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Biography and career
Early life and education
Debbie Joy Voigt
[1] was born to a religious
Southern Baptist family in 1960 and raised in
Wheeling, Illinois outside
Chicago.
She joined the choir at a Baptist church at the age of five
and began learning the piano. Her mother sang and played the piano at church while her two younger brothers sang in
rock music bands.
[3] She became interested in music from her experience at church.
When she was 14, her family moved to
Placentia, California, located in
Orange County. It was traumatic to Voigt, then in her teens, to move to "Southern California, the land of endless sunshine and impossibly perfect bodies."
She attended
El Dorado High School, where she was a member of the El Dorado Vocal Music program. She was also involved in the theatre program at El Dorado, where she starred in musicals including
Fiddler on the Roof
,
The Music Man
and
Mame
. In a interview, Voigt recalled the time in which she did not seriously consider becoming an opera singer and even did not know the existence of the
Metropolitan Opera.
[4] Upon graduation in 1978,
[5] Voigt studied choral conducting at
Chapman College in
Orange, California. However she dropped out to pursue other careers and worked as a computer operator for two years.
Voigt won a vocal scholarship funded by the
Crystal Cathedral in
Garden Grove, California so that she could enroll in the voice program at
California State University, Fullerton. She met the voice teacher Jane Paul at school and trained under her guidance for about eight years. Voigt was the finalist of the Met National Council Auditions for Young Singers in 1985.
Voigt won awards from many prestigious singing competitions (see below). She made her
Carnegie Hall debut in 1988. She won the Addler Fellow and apprenticed at
San Francisco Opera's
Merola Program for two years where she studied seven major roles and she took a class from
Leontyne Price, one of America's acclaimed sopranos.
1990s to mid 2000s
Voigt slowly but surely established her career.
She entered the professional opera world after several winning first prizes from musical competitions.
Voigt's breakthrough role was Ariadne in
Richard Strauss'
Ariadne auf Naxos
at
Boston Lyric Opera in January, 1991. The performance was very well reviewed by notable arts critic
John Rockwell in the
New York Times
.
who said "it introduced one truly remarkable singer in Deborah Voigt." He predicted that Voigt would soon be an important
Wagnerian soprano comparable to
Eileen Farrell, the earlier American dramatic soprano.
[7] [8] Ariadne
first brought her to public notice and international success, and remains one of her best achievements. Later she often refers to her operatic career jokingly as
Ariadne Inc.
[9] [10]
When Voigt made her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera on October 17, 1991 in the leading role of Amelia in
Verdi's
Un ballo in maschera
, critic
Allan Kozinn stated that she came to the Met with a big reputation. Kozinn noted that "Voigt's deep, mezzolike darkness brought impressive range of color to Amelia's music". He further commented about how well she conveyed Amelia's feeling of urgency and despair in her second-act
soliloquy, sung with a warm and golden tone. Although Kozinn criticized her acting, which did not match her singing, he emphasized that she did not lose any clarity or smoothness in her big voice.
[11] [12] In March, 1992, Voigt returned to the Met to sing as Chrysothemis, the vulnerable sister of the title character in Strauss'
Elektra
.
[13]
In the same month, she won the coveted
Richard Tucker Award from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. The prize for winning was to participate in the annual
gala of the foundation held on November 22 at
Avery Fisher Hall. Critic Bernard Holland noted that her
"Ozean, du Ungeheuer"
, a long sequence from
Weber's "
Oberon", brightened the mood and elevated the gala. He complimented her performance as "the Tucker gala's most satisfying". Her big, beautiful soprano was not only agreeable to the ear, but also showed splendid evenness and developed emotion.
Two month later Holland, reviewing her substitution for
Aprile Millo at the Met, said that her attractive singing in the opening sequence as Leonora in
Verdi's
Il Trovatore
, "reached out and settled comfortably in every corner of this big hall." However, he pointed out that she did not fully immerse herself in the passion of the
heroine.
[15]
Since then she has regularly appeared at major opera houses around the world such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York,
San Francisco Opera,
Lyric Opera of Chicago,
Vienna Staatsoper,
Deutsche Oper Berlin and the
Opera Bastille in
Paris.
2004: The "little black dress"
In 2004, Voigt was removed from the role of Ariadne at
Royal Opera House when she could not fit into one of the costumes, a "
little black dress."
[16] [17] [18] [19] The director wanted her to wear it, instead of the typical
period costume used in such operas, letting out the dress with
tailoring, or replacing it with another costume.
She was replaced by
Anne Schwanewilms, a German singer of slimmer appearance.
She was "very angry" about the incident,
but kept silent about it for several months.
When the decision became public, Covent Garden received significant criticism in the media.
It was pointed out that many notable sopranos, such as
Luisa Tetrazzini,
Jessye Norman and
Jane Eaglen, had been "large-boned, the zaftig, even the enormous," and Voigt had merely "followed in their heavy footsteps."
The decision was also criticized because of the popular
stereotype that female opera singers have to be heavy anyway, in order to do a good job. There is the old expression that "in opera, great voices often come in large packages".
and the well-worn saying about opera that "
It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings"
[21] She was headlined in the British
tabloid press as "The show ain't over till the fat lady slims."
[22] There was also an outcry because, it seemed at the time, that
high culture performing arts, such as opera, should not emulate low culture
Hollywood images of thin female stars.
By a strange twist of fate, the incident may have helped her in the long run.
Voigt had tried many well-known diets, such as
Jenny Craig and
Weight Watchers, unsuccessfully over the years.
, "who never minced words," had once expressed concern about her weight.
She underwent three-hour
gastric bypass surgery,
which she has discussed publicly.
It is highly risky for any person, but especially for a singer, who depends on a strong
thoracic diaphragm to "belt out" or project notes.
Luckily, the operation, performed at
Lenox Hill Hospital in
New York city, was successful.
She lost over 100 pounds
(or 10
stone),
and went from a size 30,
to size 14.
She has refused to reveal her exact weight before and after the surgery.
However, "before and after" photographs clearly show a considerable loss of
mass.
Voigt has said she went through the surgery not only because of the Royal Opera House but also because of her concern about health problems caused by the overweight.
In other interviews with the
New York Times
in 2005 and 2008, she said the fees that she was owed from the Covent Garden paid in part for the surgery.
Her concern was that the firing was done so cruelly.
In several interviews over the past few years, she has expressed relief and delight in the weight loss.
Since her dramatic weight loss, Deborah Voigt has been rehired by the
Royal Opera House for the role she was originally fired from in 2004.
The public reaction was positive. Voigt said in 2005 that she felt "good will from fans and the public."
She said in 2008 that she "assumed" the "rapprochement" did not happen until they had new management.
Work from 2006 to 2008
In April 2006, she performed her first
Tosca in
Vienna and the
Metropolitan Opera; her first fully staged
Salome at
Lyric Opera of Chicago premiered in October of the same year. She performed Ariadne in
Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
for the theatre during the 2007-08 season, to rave reviews.
In October
2006, she sang her first staged
Salome
at
Lyric Opera of Chicago, including a performance of the
Dance of the Seven Veils.
In January 2006, she sang
Broadway tunes and other
popular songs at
UCLA's
Royce Hall.
[23] She performed a similar concert from "the Amercian songbook" in January 2008 at
Lincoln Center.
[24] This included tributes to sopranos
Barbara Cook and
Julie Andrews.
Although Voigt's
fach is that of the
dramatischer
soprano, she has recently made the transition into singing the
hochdramatischer
soprano repertoire with her interpretation of
Isolde from
Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde
. She has recently sung the role in the 2007-8 season at the
Metropolitan Opera and in the 2008-9 season at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago. During one of the performances at the Met, Voigt took ill and had to leave the stage.
[25] She returned at the next performance of
Tristan und Isolde
and finished the run to acclaim by most reviewers, including
The New York Times
.
[26] [27] However, some critics, including the
New York Sun
, panned her performance.
[28]
On September 30, 2008, Voigt joined two other sopranos,
Patricia Racette and
Susan Graham, in singing a comedic tribute to
Plácido Domingo, who:
Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.
Repertoire
Since 2000, she has gradually expanded her repertoire to
Italian opera which is beyond her specialty in
Strass and
Wagner roles that demand the high dramatic soprano range. She sang
Puccini's Tosca in Miami spring,
Verdi's
Lady MacBeth,
Leonora in
Il trovatore and the title role in
Aida, and Amellia in
Un ballo in maschera and many others.
Alceste
In May 2009, Voigt starred in the rarely-heard 1776 opera
Alceste
by
Christoph Willibald Gluck, in concert at
Lincoln Center's
Rose Theatre.
[30] She performed with the
Collegiate Chorale [31] and
Vinson Cole,
tenor, as King Admète, and the
New York City Opera Orchestra."
is based on the legend from
Greek mythology regarding the sacrifice and love for her mortally ill husband of Alceste, Queen of Pherae.
According to a
New York Times
preview, "The chance to hear Deborah Voigt in her first performance of the title role in Gluck’s
Alceste
is clearly driving the ticket sales for the Collegiate Chorale’s concert performance of this remarkable opera...."
[32] Time Out
said that Voigt "already proved her affinity for similar material a few years back when she sang Cassandre in Berlioz’s
Les Troyens
at the Met."
[33] The
France-Amerique
noted that Voigt and the chorus received French diction training for the performance from Thomas Grubb, a teacher at the
Juilliard School.
[34]
Unfortunately, Voigt caught the flu when she was to perform, yet went on with the show;
[35] the photograph caption for the
New York Times
review was, "Deborah Voigt, even with the flu, led a Collegiate Chorale concert performance on Tuesday."
[36] The reviewer wrote, "she did some impressive work, singing with power, gleaming sound and sensitive phrasing, though she clearly struggled. Often her voice sounded congested and her top range tight... her voice nearly gave out, and she had to drop down an octave to get though a phrase."
The review reserved judgment but noted that some fans were "disappointed."
Another reviewer wrote, "One would like very much to hear Voigt undertake this dramatic role again when she is in peak form."
Current work and plans
Voigt is
mentoring a younger soprano, Christina Borgioli, in a new program that she has set up.
[37] Borgioli has "been selected as the first participant in the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation’s Protegee Mentoring Program."
This will involve both voice and acting training, and a shadowing experience.
She will sing "
Strauss" at the
Aspen Music Festival's 60th anniversary concert on August 6 with
David Zinman conducting.
[38]
Voigt's next planned formal opera gig is in the title role of
Tosca
in September and October 2009, at the Lyric Opera in her home town of Chicago.
[39] Borgioli, her mentee, will accompany Voigt in this production.
Voigt will be singing again with The
Metropolitan Opera during the 2009-10 Season. She will sing
Chrysothemis
in
Richard Strauss's
Elektra
in December 2009, and
Senta
in
Flying Dutchman
(
Der Fliegende Holländer
) in April 2010, an "iconic Wagnerian role ... for the first time on the Met stage."
[40]
Personal life
As of March, 2009, Deborah Voigt has been a New Yorker for about five years.
Voigt was once married to her high school sweetheart, John Leitch
when she became 30.
She said she relied on him
and he worked for her career.
[41] However, they divorced in 1995 after seven years of marriage.
As she was getting more famous, she traveled around the world with him. However her crowded schedule and the accompanying stress eventually led to the couple's divorce.
[43] Awards
Deborah Voigt has received various awards for her artistic achievement since her debut as a singer.
Voigt was the first prize winner of
Philadelphia’s
Luciano Pavarotti Vocal Competition in 1988, the
Verdi Competition in 1989, and won the gold prize for best female singer at the prestigious 1990
International Tchaikovsky Competition and .
In March 1992, she won the
Richard Tucker Award, the top award presented by the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, including a $30,000 cash award.
[46]
Voigt has been nominated for a
Grammy Award several times and shared the 1996 "Best Opera Recording" award for the recording of
Berlioz's
Les Troyens
directed by
Charles Dutoit with
Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
[47] She was also co-nominated in 2002 for "Best Choral Performance" on a
Columbia Records recording.
[48]
Voigt garnered
Musical America
’s Vocalist of the Year in 2003, and an
Opera News
award for distinguished achievement in 2007.
She was honored as a Chevalier of
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
at the
Opéra Bastille on 27 March, 2002. It is a French civilian honor
recognizing her significant contributions to the cultural life of France. Hugues Gall, the director of the
Paris Opera made the award on behalf of the minister of culture of France.
[49]
She was inducted into the
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Hall of Fame in 1997.
[50]
Recordings
Voigt has made a number of recordings which include two solo
compact discs. She is also on the live recording of the
Vienna State Opera's production of
Tristan und Isolde
(Deutsche Grammophon 2003).
[51] In a 2001 interview with the
Associated Press
, however, Voigt expressed that she was unlucky with recording because of unexpected cancellations and postponements. The opportunities of cooperation with high profile musicians could have made her a major
prima donna more quickly.
She had a chance to work with
Luciano Pavarotti in a televised production of Verdi's
La forza del destino
in 1997. However, the performance did not take place since Pavarotti did not master his role. Later the same year, Voigt was cast to sing for a new recording of Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde
under the direction of
Sir Georg Solti. Before it proceeded, Solti suddenly died of a heart attack.
In April, 2001, The Metropolitan Opera intended to broadcast a taping of Strauss'
Ariadne auf Naxos
in which Voigt sang the title role. However it was put off until 2003, for co-star
Natalie Dessay. She felt frustration over the fact that every recording plan for Ariadne had been delayed or stopped for five years until fall, 2001. Finally, Voigt presented her Ariadne in a 2001 recording released by
Deutsche Grammophon in which Natalie Dessay,
Anne Sofie von Otter and
Ben Heppner co-starred. Although Maestro
Giuseppe Sinopoli who directed the recording suddenly died of a heart attack on April 2001, the recording was finished before his death. Voigt said that if he had not participated in the project, she doubts she could have ever recorded Ariadne. In the end, her long struggle paid off and turned out to have a bright side since the album was mentioned as one of the
"Top Classical Recordings of 2001"
according to the New York Times.
Selected discography
- Berlioz. Les Troyens
, conducted by Charles Dutoit with Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Decca, 1993.
- Beethoven: Fidelio
, conducted by Colin Davis with Bavarian State Opera Chorus & Radio Symphony, BMG, 1996. [53]
- Schoenberg: Gurrelieder, Teldec, 1996.
- Beethoven: Cantates, Koch International Classics, 1997.
- Mahler: Symphony No. 8, Telarc, 1997.
- Robert Shaw: Absolute Heaven, Telarc, 1997.
- Strauss: Elektra, Deutsche Grammophon, 1997.
- The American Opera Singer, BMG/RCA Victor, 1997.
- Operatically Incorrect!, BMG/RCA Victor, 1997.
- Wagner: Der fliegende Hollander, Sony/Columbia, 1997.
- Strauss: Don Juan, Teldec, 1999.
- Zemlinsky: Samtliche Chorwerke, EMI Classics, 1999.
- Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos, UNI/Deutsche Grammophon, 2000.
- Wagner: Love Duets, EMI Classics, 2000.
- Zemlinsky: Cymbeline Suite, EMI Classics, 2001.
- Obsessions
(EMI Classics 2004)
- All My Heart
(EMI Classics 2005)
References
- Barrymore Laurence Scherer (February 7, 2002)''High Drama From Debbie the Diva '' The Wall Street Journal
- Blum, Ronald (Sep 24, 2001) ''Voigt Poised to Make Leap in Opera World'' Associated Press / The Ledger
- Carolyne Zinko (September 3, 2006) ''DETERMINED DIVA'' SFGate
- ''Voigt, Deborah'' eNotes
- Public school review page on Plaentia HS. Accessed May 29, 2009.
- Budd Mishkin (March 26, 2009) ''One On 1: Opera Soprano Deborah Voigt'' NY1 News
- John Rockwell (January 23, 1991) ''Review/Opera; A Notable Boston Debut'' The New York Times
- Anthony Tommasini, (May 18, 2003) ''MUSIC; Studying for a German Test in Italian'' The New York Times
- Anthony Tommasini (September 26, 1997)''OPERA REVIEW; Deborah Voigt as a Down-to-Earth Ariadne'' The New York Times
- Robin Pogrebin (March 9, 2004) ''Soprano Says Her Weight Cost Her Role In London'' The New York Times
- Allan Kozinn (October 26, 1991) ''Classical Music in Review'' The New York Times
- (November 3, 1994) ''Deborah Voigt Recital'' The New York Times
- Edward Rothstein (March 28, 1992) ''Review/Opera; Strauss's 'Elektra' in a New Production at the Met'' The New York Times
- Review/Music; Singing Out in Annual Tribute to Richard Tucker
- Review/Opera; 'Il Trovatore': A Dark and Gloomy Night in Aragon
- "Deborah Voigt: Off The Scales: Opera Star Talks About Lifelong Battle With Weight," found at Deborah Voigt: Off The Scales, Opera Star Talks About Lifelong Battle With Weight - CBS News Also retrieved May 29, 2009.
- Anthony Tommasini, "With Surgery, Soprano Sheds a Brünnhilde Body," ''New York Times'', March 27, 2005, found at New York Times website. ''Before and after images included''. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Anthony Tommasini, "Second Date With a Little Black Dress," ''New York Times'', June 11, 2008, found at New York Times website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Vivien Schweitzer, "Music Review: A Slimmed-Down Diva Keeps Her Vocal Heft," ''New York Times'', June 18, 2009, found at New York Times website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- VIEW / She can sing, but how's she look? Deborah Voigt's firing shows how opera's becoming like Hollywood
- ''Sounding off on growing opera "look-ism"''
- Katy Guest: "The show ain't over till the fat lady slims," ''The Independent'' (UK), 17 May 2009, found at The Independent online. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- LA's the Place website. Accessed May 29, 2009.
- Lincoln Center website. Accessed May 29, 2009.
- Daniel Wakin, "Ailment Sidelines a Singer, but the Opera Still Goes On," ''New York Times'', March 15, 2008, found at New York Times website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Musical criticism.com website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Anthony Tommasini, "A ‘Tristan und Isolde’ Well Worth the Wait," ''New York Times'' March 30, 2008, found at New York Times website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Jay Nordliger, "Voigt's Isolde Falls Flat," ''New York Sun'', March 12, 2008, found at New York Sun website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Philipp Brieler, "Plácido Domingo: 40 Years at the Met," ''Metropolitan Opera Family'', September 30, 2008, found at ''Metropolitan Opera Family'' website. Accessed June 23, 2009.
- "Deborah Voigt Stars in Concert Alceste - with Cole, Kinsella, Yum, Zeller & Collegiate Chorale - May 26," ''Playbill Arts'', May 16, 2009, found at Playbill Arts website. Accesssed May 27, 2009.
- Collegiate Chorale website. Accesssed May 27, 2009.
- Anthony Tommasini, "Classical Music/Opera Listings," ''The New York Times'', May 21, 2009, found at ''The New York Times'' website. Accesssed May 27, 2009.
- "Opera & Classical: Collegiate Chorale," ''Time Out New York'', Issue 712: May 21–27, 2009, found at Time Out website. Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Judith Oringer, "Alceste, un opéra en version française au Lincoln Center", May 23, 2009 ("Publié le 23 mai 2009"), found at France-Amerique website (in French). Accessed May 27, 2009.
- Bruce-Michael Gelbert, "Voigt’s Noble Alceste Battles Hell & Flu in Collegiate Chorale Concert," Q Onstage, June 1, 2009 Q-Metropolis website. Accessed June 2, 2009.
- Anthony Tommasini, "Music Review: Collegiate Chorale: Onstage, an Alceste-Like Struggle (as Alceste)," May 27, 2009, found at New York Times website. Accesssed May 27, 2009.
- Treasure Coast and Plam Beaches website. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- dailycamera.com. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- Lyric Opera official website. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- Metropolitan Opera official website. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- Anthony Tommasini, (April 27, 1997) ''A Singer Finds a Soul Sister'' The New York Times
- Persevering Through Thick & Thin
- Melinda Bargreen (August 1, 1999) ''New Diva, New Production For Seattle Opera'' Seattle Times
- John Von Rhein, (October 22, 2006) ''A DIVA REBORN Sleeker soprano Voigtnow agood fitfor the sultry ‘Salome’'' Chicago Tribune
- In Moscow, New Yorkers Take 2 Prizes
- (March 4, 1992) ''Richard Tucker Award Goes to Deborah Voigt'' The New York Times
- ''Charles Dutoit'' allmusic.com
- Columbia Artists Management website. Accessed May 29, 2009.
- Mattison, Ben. (28 March 2002) ''Deborah Voigt Awarded France's Chavalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres'' Andante
- Vanessa DeRuyter, "School District Honors Famed Soprano Voigt," ''LA Times'', November 22, 1997, found at LA Times website. Accessed May 29, 2009.
- Deborah Voigt official biography. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- MUSIC: The Year in Classical Music: The Critics' Choices; A New 'Falstaff'; Earl Kim's Genius
- Innaurato, Albert. (Dec. 28, 1996) ''Beethoven: Fidelio.(Deborah Voigt, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Ben Heppner, Gunter von Kannen, Matthias Holle, Bavarian State Opera, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Sir Colin Davis)~(sound recording reviews)'' Opera News