Deborah Voigt
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Deborah Voigt (born August 4, 1960) is an American opera singer. Voigt is known for her vibrant dramatic soprano voice which easily soars over heavy and dense instrumentation. She is most famous for her interpretations of the Strauss and Wagner roles, including Isolde, Sieglinde, Elsa, Elisabeth, Senta, Ariadne, Chrysothemis, the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Salome, Helen of Troy, Marie in Friedenstag, and the Marschallin.
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.
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[edit] Biography
Deborah Joy Voigt grew up outside Chicago. When she was 14, her family moved to Placentia, California, located in Orange County. 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 and The Music Man. She studied at California State University, Fullerton and in San Francisco Opera's Merola Program.
Voigt's breakout role was a 1991 Ariadne at Boston Lyric Opera, which was very well reviewed by John Rockwell in the New York Times.
In 2004, Voigt was removed from the role of Ariadne at Covent Garden (Royal Opera House) when she could not fit into one of the costumes, a little black cocktail dress. Although Voigt had a large figure at the time, Covent Garden received criticism for this decision[1].
After the Covent Garden incident, she underwent gastric bypass surgery to combat her weight, which she has discussed publicly.[2] She lost 135 pounds and went from a size 28-30 to size 14. Regarding the possible connection between the canceled Covent Garden contract and the surgery, Voigt has said "I certainly didn't do it because of the Royal Opera House... I did it because I wasn't feeling well, because my knees were hurting, because I would cross the street and feel as though I wasn't going to be able to catch my breath. Because, 'Oh my lord, I might have to sit in that chair at dinner and there are arms on it. And will I fit into that chair?'"[2] In October 2006, she sang her first staged Salome at Lyric Opera of Chicago, including a performance of the Dance of the Seven Veils.
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. She is performing Ariadne in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos for the theatre during the 2007-8 season.
Although Voigt's fach is that of the dramatischer sopran, she has recently made the transition into singing the hochdramatischer sopran repertoire with her interpretation of Isolde from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. She is singing the role in the 2007-8 season of the Metropolitan Opera.
[edit] Awards
Voigt is a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (a French civilian honor).
She won the 1992 Richard Tucker Award from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Voigt is also a gold prize winner at the prestigious 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition.
[edit] External links
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