"Once in a generation, a true dramatic soprano comes along, with a rare voice built for the works of Wagner and Strauss in an opera house the size of the Met. Deborah Voigt is the real deal."        – Where, April 2004 Deborah Voigt's "All My Heart" with pianist Brian Zeger, on Angel/EMI Classics [ more ] Deborah Voigt as Helen in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Richard Strauss’s “The Egyptian Helen.”     Photo © Nick Heavican/Metropolitan Opera Deborah Voigt in concert in Toulouse, France, February 3, 2005.     Photo courtesy of www.ResMusica.com

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PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:

• Der Fliegende Hollände, Metropolitan Opera, April/May 2010
• Elektra, Metropolitan Opera, December 2009
• Tosca, Lyric Opera of Chicago, September 2009
• Aspen Festival, August 2009
• London Symphony Orchestra, June 2009
• Tristan und Isolde, Lyric Opera of Chicago, January 2009
• Schubert Club recital, January 2009
• Ariadne auf Naxos, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, June 2008
• Tristan und Isolde, Metropolitan Opera,
  March 2008
• Met Orchestra Concert, Carnegie Hall,
  February 2008
• More performance reviews

Der Fliegende Hollände, Metropolitan Opera, April/May 2010

“Deborah Voigt ... brought steely power and lyrical elegance to her first Met Senta ... Ms. Voigt’s musical vitality and vocal charisma were especially welcome.”
   – The New York Times, April 25th, 2010
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“[Deborah Voigt] transformed what had been a routine opening night of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Hollände into a memorable revival at the Metropolitan Opera on Friday ... All in all, it was a satisfying evening that rose when Voigt commanded the stage.”
   – Associated Press, April 25th, 2010
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Elektra, Metropolitan Opera, December 2009

Bullock survives, Voigt soars, in Met’s ‘Elektra’: “Voigt ... made every phrase count. In the soaring melody with which Chrysothemis sings of her longing for motherhood, she filled the hall with thrilling sound.”
   – Mike Silverman, Associated Press, December 16, 2009

Vulnerable to Wily to Deranged, With a Voice for Each: “The gleaming soprano of Deborah Voigt, who reprised the role she sang in the production's premiere in 1992, had no trouble cutting through the opulent orchestral textures.”
   – Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times, December 14, 2009

“Voigt ... has reinvented her soprano as an efficient, even instrument with a glint of steel.”
   – James Jorden, New York Post, December 14, 2009

“[Bullock] was paired with one of those dramatic sopranos who can make one’s hair stand on end—Deborah Voigt, as Elecktra’s sister, Chrysothemis. This is a signature role for Voigt, who sang the part when this production was first unveiled seventeen years ago. It makes sense for Chrysothemis to have a somewhat sunnier, more vibrant sound, since she represents life, family and unflagging hope for the future, in contrast with Elecktra’s obsessive lust for revenge. Voigt did, in fact, cut through the preposterously large Straussian orchestra a little more naturally and with more vibrancy and point than Bullock. In her rapturous delivery of Chrysothemis's plea for a fulfilling future with children of her own, Voigt gave the impression of an expert surfer, masterfully riding the oceanic wave of the roiling 100-piece orchestra. In the final scene, Bullock and Voigt complemented each other perfectly in terms of timbre and strength for the glorious, culminating duet.”
   – Opera News, March 2010

Lyric Opera opens season with glowing "Tosca"

“... Voigt brought both passion and restraint to her Floria Tosca, underlining her character’s flirtatiousness and jealousy in her scenes with Galouzine, and repulsion and horror when confronted by Morris. ...”
   – Associated Press, September 27, 2009

Soprano Voigt shines at Aspen festival

“She was in radiant form, delivering a commanding performance that justified the repeated roars of approval she received.” Read full review.
   – Denver Post, August 7, 2009 [Kyle MacMillan]

Opera arias and scenes concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, June 2009

“She could have danced all night — though perhaps not cheek to cheek with the head of John the Baptist. After Asher Fisch had conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in Richard Strauss’s Dance of the Seven Veils, Deborah Voigt swept on stage, with blood-red frock and blood-red lips, to sing the closing scene from Salome. After that, she offered heartfelt thanks to her boisterously enthusiastic audience in Strauss’s song Zueignung. And then, daringly, the orchestra partnered her in I Could Have Danced all Night — to riotous applause. By the end of the evening you really could believe that Voigt could have spread her wings and done a thousand things that she had never done before. Now she was on top form. A new gilding guarded the top register of her dramatic soprano voice; there was true beauty within the horror; and Voigt embodied every movement, every acrid scent of Strauss’s pungent score.”
   – The Times (London), June 16, 2009 [Hilary Finch]

Tristan und Isolde, Lyric Opera of Chicago, January 2009

Lyric Opera’s ‘Tristan’ a triumph for the shining Isolde of Deborah Voigt : “[Voigt], today’s Isolde of choice, is one of a highly select band of singers capable of meeting the rigorous vocal demands Richard Wagner made of the protagonists of his seminal masterpiece, ‘Tristan und Isolde.’
   “... Voigt threw herself into a vocally fearless, dramatically incisive portrayal of the proud Irish princess who engages in a passionate affair with the knight Tristan that eventually consumes both of them.
   “... Whether unleashing her full, radiant dramatic soprano or scaling it to a shimmering hush, Voigt went from defiant mail-order bride to liberated woman to transfigured lover with complete vocal security and keen dramatic involvement.
   “She made the ‘Liebestod’ a gripping song of transcendence; as the orchestra surged, Isolde surrendered to death, standing transfixed under a single spotlight, surrounded by a darkened stage. Voigt and [tenor Clifton] Forbis were at their best in the long, ecstatic love duet (here slightly cut) in which Tristan and Isolde poured out their longing for the bliss of eternal night.”
   – Chicago Tribune, January 29, 2009 [John von Rhein]

Lyric’s ‘Tristan’ soars on Voigt’s golden wings : “There are reasons they call it grand opera. And some of the best were on display Tuesday night when Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its mesmerizing production of Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde.’
   “Primary among them was Deborah Voigt, whose combination of golden-toned, full-bodied singing and luminous beauty has made her the opera world’s Isolde of choice.
   “... [Voigt] has absorbed the role into her very bones. Vocally, she was superb, her gleaming soprano expressive and big, unforced and capable of easily sailing over the orchestra even at its most frenzied moments.”
   – Chicago Sun-Times, January 29, 2009 [Wynne Delacoma]

Lyric Opera raises curtain on truly memorable ‘Tristan und Isolde’ : “Voigt and [tenor Clifton] Forbis are a perfect match. Their love duet in the second act (it lasts 40 minutes!) is one of many emotional high points in this production. Later, the mortally wounded Forbis is wonderfully dramatic in his great scene that opens the final act, and Voigt climaxes the evening with an achingly beautiful performance of the familiar Liebestod (love-death), arguably the most beautiful 10 minutes of music Wagner ever wrote.”
   – Daily Herald, January 28, 2009 [Bill Gowen]
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Schubert Club recital, January 2009

“Soprano Deborah Voigt’s Tuesday-evening Schubert Club recital, a master class on communicating with an audience, explored several seldom-visited pockets of the art-song repertory. ... what made the concert memorable was her generous sampling of songs in English, by Americans from Amy Beach (1867-1944) to Ben Moore (born 1960). The Chicago native, a fixture at the world's great opera houses, may earn her living by singing in other tongues, but she's most expressive and affecting in her own.”
   – Minneapolis Star-Tribune, January 7, 2009 [Larry Fuchsberg]
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As Ariadne in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, June 2008

“Voigt has a gleaming tone with a touch of steel, ideal for Straussian roles such as Ariadne. Her diction is crystal-clear and her animated line projects the words with genuine feeling for their significance. There’s a nice irony in that the work is in part about the pressures to which great art is subjected.”
   – Evening Standard, 6.17.08 [Barry Millington – 5***** of 5]

“Ms. Voigt looked elegant and sounded in fine form in her first Covent Garden appearance since 2001 ... she sounded lustrous as she pleaded for death, her huge, gleaming voice as commanding as ever in her signature role. ... There was plenty of chemistry between [Robert Dean Smith as Bacchus] and Ms. Voigt during the opera’s conclusion under a star-studded sky.”
   – The New York Times, 6.18.08 [Vivien Schweitzer]

“Once she gets bewitched, bothered and bewildered, in the sumptuous 15-minute duet where Bacchus (robust Robert Dean Smith) turns the whining, pining Ariadne into an ecstatic lover, she is magnificent. And the new compact curves look good too.”
   – The Times (London), 6.18.08 [Richard Morrison]

“In the vehement, all-stops-out final duet with Robert D Smith’s sterling Bacchus ... she finally [struck] gold and [showed] the Covent Garden audience why she is rated elsewhere as one of the world’s leading Strauss sopranos.”
   – The Telegraph (London), 6.18.08 [Rupert Christiansen]

“As the backstage drama queen transformed first into a grieving woman and then into an ecstatic goddess, [Voigt] is really rather wonderful. Whether hurling imprecations at Kristine Jepson’s Composer or abandoning herself to the blandishments of Robert Dean Smith’s Bacchus, she acts with refinement, glamour and passion. ... she seems to have found greater expressive freedom, etching words with tremendous vividness and generating an emotional charge that hits you in the solar plexus.”
   – The Guardian, 6.19.08 [Tim Ashley]

“Voigt Soars – Deborah Voigt’s blazing performance at London’s Royal Opera House makes you forget that a scandal once was attached to her. ... She looks stunning. As a woman deserted by her lover who longs for death, her acting is both passionate and dignified. More importantly, her voice is gorgeously glossy, and it opens out in huge thrilling waves of sound the higher she sings. In short, she’s a sensation.”
   – Bloomberg.com, 6.19.08 [Warwick Thompson]

“Deborah Voigt, now fitting in that little black dress, can rattle the rafters with her money notes.”
   – The Independent, 6.18.08 [Edward Seckerson]

Tristan und Isolde, Metropolitan Opera, March 2008

A ‘Tristan und Isolde’ Well Worth the Wait
“On Friday, acclaimed Wagnerians, tenor Ben Heppner and the soprano Deborah Voigt, seemed to feed on each other’s intensity and determination. ... Mr. Heppner again gave an impassioned, courageous and vocally thrilling performance. ...
And Ms. Voigt sounded liberated. With a Tristan who could match her in sheer power and vocal charisma, she, too, took risks as she sent gleaming phrases soaring over the orchestra. But what may especially linger in the memory were the moments of tender lyricism and the aching exchanges of desire during their Act II love duet.”
   – Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 3.30.08
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Met Orchestra Concert, Carnegie Hall, February 17, 2008

“Deborah Voigt did glorious battle with the final scene of Richard Strauss's Salome. ... this is a soprano of penetrating power and clarity.”
   – Bernard Holland, The New York Times, 2.19.08

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