DEBORAH VOIGT WILL SING TRADITIONAL AND POPULAR HOLIDAY FAVORITES IN CONCERT AT CARNEGIE HALL ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16
VOIGT’S FIRST HOLIDAY CONCERT IN NEW YORK SINCE 2003 IS ALSO FIRST HOLIDAY CONCERT SHE’S GIVEN AT CARNEGIE HALL
“She showed sharp comic timing throughout the evening; this wasn’t an opera star condescending to her material, but a Broadway baby at heart who was relaxed, sassy, and having fun.”
– Opera News review of Voigt’s concert for
Classical Action/Broadway CaresDeborah Voigt enjoys nothing more than entertaining an audience and, on Tuesday, December 16, 2008, that’s just what the popular operatic soprano plans to do in her first Carnegie Hall concert dedicated to music for the holiday season. With New York’s historic Oratorio Society and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the baton of Patrick Summers, Deborah Voigt will sing Handel’s beloved aria “I know that my Redeemer liveth”, from Messiah; Schubert’s equally treasured “Ave Maria”, and numerous popular songs ranging from Irving Berlin’s “Snow” – from the movie White Christmas – to “We need a little Christmas” from Jerry Herman’s Mame, and Mel Torme’s classic “Christmas Song” (aka “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”). Composer Ben Moore, who has written several songs for Voigt in the past – some featured on All My Heart, her best-selling American songs album for EMI Classics – has written two new songs for the occasion.
The soprano comments:
Singing holiday songs is such a lovely break from the world of opera. It’s music that appeals to everyone and, at this joyous time of year, sharing this music with audiences brings out the best in everyone!
As always with such concerts, Voigt will keep a few surprises hidden under her boa to bring out at the end of the program.
In April 2004, a few months after her New York Philharmonic holiday concert, Deborah Voigt made her acclaimed Carnegie Hall recital debut. Her reception on December 16 could top even the one she received that spring evening more than three years ago, of which the New York Times reported:
When the soprano Deborah Voigt walked onto the stage at Carnegie Hall to begin her recital on Wednesday night, looking cool and radiant in a diva gown of flowing silver-blue silk, her blond hair aglow, the ardent ovation from the full house was more than just an appreciative welcome.
Voigt’s winning way with popular music and Broadway songs has been well-documented. In past seasons she has appeared in Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series, given benefit concerts for theatrical organizations and charities, and even performed a Broadway classic on TV’s popular Good Morning America program. Opera News observed,
Deborah Voigt comes to pop-singing naturally. She creates each musical mood so perfectly and demonstrates such show-biz savvy that it makes me wish she had more opportunities. ... If this were 1970, she would probably be given her own network variety show; let’s hope that Conan O’Brien and David Letterman have her on soon.
When she’s not traveling the world, Voigt spends a lot of time in New York, and calls the Metropolitan Opera her artistic home. She has been known to play impromptu piano in local lounges, is a popular host of The Met: Live in HD, and has a strong and enthusiastic fan-base in the city which can be expected to turn out in numbers at Carnegie Hall, augmented by families seeking a traditional holiday concert.
This season, Voigt has already given several performances at the Met in the title role of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, and was a co-host of the Met’s September opening night Live in HD transmission, interviewing members of the Times Square audience during intermissions. Before her Carnegie Hall Holiday Concert, she returns to the Vienna State Opera, where she made her triumphal debut in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in 2003. There she will give her first European performances as Strauss’s Salome, the role she first performed onstage with such resounding success two years ago at Lyric Opera of Chicago. In early 2009, Deborah Voigt will return to Chicago to reprise Isolde, her triumph last season at the Metropolitan Opera.
Deborah Voigt Holiday Concert
Carnegie Hall – Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 8 pm
Orchestra of St. Luke’s / Patrick Summers
Oratorio Society of New York / Kent Tritle
CarnegieCharge: 212-247-7800
Tickets from $28 to $86
www.carnegiehall.org
BIOGRAPHY : ENGAGEMENTS : DISCOGRAPHY : REVIEWS : PHOTO GALLERY
LATEST NEWS : STAY IN TOUCH : PRESS AREA : HOME
Personal Representation:
Andrea Anson, Vice-President
1790 Broadway
New York, New York 10019-1412
Phone: 212-841-9548
Fax: 212-841-9516
aanson@cami.comPublic Relations:
Albert Imperato
162 West 56th Street, Suite 506
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-245-2110
Fax: 212-245-1965
aimperato@21cmediagroup.com