"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 ]

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MORE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

• Die Frau ohne Schatten, Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2007
• Ravinia Festival, 2007
• Die Ägyptische Helena, Metropolitan Opera
• Salome, National Symphony Orchestra
• Salome, Lyric Opera of Chicago
• Un Ballo in Maschera, San Franciso Opera
• Tosca, Metropolitan Opera
• La Forza del Destino, Metropolitan Opera
• New York Evening of Cabaret
• "Debbie and Ben Show"
• At Tanglewood
• In Cincinnati
• Un Ballo in Maschera
• Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier
• Interview: Voigt in Boston
• Die Walküre at Ravinia
• Carnegie Hall Recital
• Dayton Recital
• Die Walküre at the Met, 2004
• Die Frau ohne Schatten, 2003
• Deborah Voigt as Isolde, 2002
• Additional reviews

As the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Lyric Opera of Chicago, November-December 2007

Lyric’s ‘Frau’ casts a mighty shadow
“Lyric has cornered the market on the leading Strauss voices of our day, including two great dramatic sopranos – Christine Brewer, in a spectacular house debut as the Dyer’s wife; and Deborah Voigt, following her triumphant Salome last season with another triumph as the Empress, the eponymous woman without a shadow.”
   – John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, November 19, 2007

Lyric’s dream team casts a giant ‘Shadow’
Voigt, Brewer, Smith astonish in Strauss’ adult fairy tale
“American soprano Deborah Voigt of course owns the part of an Empress caught between supernatural and human worlds and torn as well by questions of fertility, marriage and the expression of the self. Never one to disappoint, Voigt adds a real acting presence to her arsenal and builds from strength to strength over her character’s three-act transformation. Her earthly counterpart, the Dyer’s Wife, is given the meat of the vocal writing and the weight of the opera’s heaviest emotions; American soprano Christine Brewer, making her long-anticipated Lyric debut, is never less than astonishing. With her bottomless sources of beautiful sound and her commanding stage presence she elevates her character’s laments to the highest plane.”
   – Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun Times, November 19, 2007

Recital at the Ravinia Festival, August 23, 2007

“There are certain singers who you just can’t help but love. … American-born and -trained Deborah Voigt is one of them, at the top of her field but shunning diva attitude and trappings ... The program’s second half ... allowed Voigt just to be herself – an old friend sharing her own joy and pain and not those of operatic characters. Seven songs of Leonard Bernstein … made the storm-reduced audience feel as if we were gathered in Voigt’s parlor. And when encores included Irving Berlin’s ‘I Love a Piano’ with Voigt joining Zeger on the Steinway for some well-executed four-hand ragtime and ‘Can’t Help Lovin’ dat Man’ from ‘Showboat,’ we were with a very grand singer indeed, happily far from the world and the stage of grand opera that she normally must call home.”
   – Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun-Times

Helena in Die Ägyptische Helena, Metropolitan Opera, March-April, 2007

“Ms. Voigt’s creamy, radiant soprano, fortified with some necessary steel, made for a potent Helena.”
   – Heidi Waleson, The Wall Street Journal

“With her pleading sexuality, alluring confidence and yard upon yard of unspooling melody, Helen requires a soprano of majestic talents. Voigt’s got them.”
   – Justin Davidson, Newsday

“Voigt filled the house with her lustrous silvery soprano, adding to her string of Strauss successes following the title roles in ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ and ‘Salome,’ [the Empress] in ‘Die Frau [ohne Schatten]’ and Chrysothemis in ‘Elektra.’”
   – Ronald Blum, Associated Press

“It was hard to ponder the opera’s shortcomings in the presence of Ms. Voigt’s splendid portrayal. She sent Strauss’s lines soaring with gleaming tone and unforced power. In one climactic moment, standing atop the prompter’s box, she capped a defiant outburst with a high C that, like some ‘Star Wars’ light saber, threatened to slice the auditorium right down the middle. Yet Strauss’s lyrical effusions must have grace and lightness as well, qualities that as always came naturally to Ms. Voigt.”
   – Anthony Thommasini, The New York Times

“[Voigt] looked splendid in the slinky dresses of the world’s most famous femme fatale and soared through the piece’s only well-known music, the ‘second wedding night’.”
   – Manuela Hoelterhoff, Bloomberg News

As Salome, with the National Symphony Orchestra, January 2007

Voigt Delivers in the NSO’s Stellar Salome
“What impressed me most about Voigt was the nuance and freshness her voice retained even after singing at or near the top of her lungs for well over an hour. She never sounded steely: It was always recognizably a fellow human being, rather than a singing machine, making those lush and opulent sounds.”
   – Washington Post, January 19, 2007

“Opera stars often hit a peak early on, and spend the rest of their careers trying not to disappoint a world that witnessed it. So when Deborah Voigt delivers one performance after another that her fans didn’t dare anticipate a decade ago, you see why she’s adored unceasingly, and rarely more than at Thursday’s concert performance of Strauss’ Salome with the National Symphony Orchestra. ... Voigt’s Salome is a thought-through characterization worth traveling for. ...
   “The fact that you can even talk about characterization is evidence of Voigt’s gratifying inversion of artistic priorities. Once a voice-based singer, she’s now a word-based singer, which isn’t just important with the dense, Oscar Wilde-adapted text in Salome: It’s everything, assuming the right vocal equipment is there.
   “And it is. Though Voigt can handle the truck-driver requirements of Isolde, her Salome wasn’t just lyrical but mostly kept within a specific, lightish ‘head voice’ supported by a frigid core of a character capable of demanding St. John the Baptist’s head after he has spurned her. The sound is alluring, not rich, and it ever so slightly nags at the ear, as Salome should.
   “The overall performance bordered on extraordinary.”
   – Philadelphia Inquirer, January 20, 2007 [David Patrick Stearns]

“Voigt sizzles in a hot ‘Salome’
“Voigt delivered a soaring, searing performance of the taxing title role ... [she] looked radiant Thursday in an appropriately blood-red gown, and she sounded radiant, too, her voice confidently riding the orchestral crest and penetrating to the musical heart of the matter. In almost all cases, top notes were not just secure, but gleaming, while intimate moments in the opera inspired beautifully shaded phrasing. Even after the long, daunting finale scene, Voigt sounded fresh. ... the soprano was still a fireball of drama. Her face and gestures reflected every sick twist in Salome’s thinking, from would-be seducer of Jokanaan (John the Baptist) to near-necrophilic monster.”
   – Baltimore Sun, January 20, 2007 [Tim Smith]

“As Salome, the inexhaustible Miss Voigt is onstage and singing throughout most of the evening. Her Salome stealthily evolves, morphing from naive young girl into sexual predator, expanding vocally from lyric tenderness to Wagnerian power and majesty.”
   – Washington Times, January 20, 2007 [T.L. Ponick]

As Salome, Lyric Opera of Chicago, October-November 2006

“Voigt’s superb instrument sounded ideal in this Salome, retaining its quicksilver girlishness even when dominating the most grueling orchestral climaxes. Every phrase, from the coyly glittering dispatch of ‘den Kopf des Jochanaan’ to a bile-laden final scene of protean force, was infused with singular meaning and glamour. One veteran Lyric subscriber declared Voigt’s Salome to be the most formidable since that of the legendary Ljuba Welitsch; this was lofty praise indeed, but Voigt’s performance was inarguably a standard-setting one.”
   – Opera News

“It was a personal and artistic milestone for this beloved Illinois-born soprano, who must have felt as if she were making a second professional debut. It was also a personal and artistic triumph. Ms. Voigt, who looked great, exuded confidence and won a tumultuous ovation. What matters, though, is that she sang thrillingly … I have never heard her sing with such fearless intensity. That she can now move with newfound agility seems to have empowered her singing as well as her acting.”
   – The New York Times

“Her singing was gleaming and voluptuous, its power and warm, womanly vocal quality undiminished. … Voigt poured out the grueling final scene in a mad exultation of opulent, radiant tone.”
   – Chicago Tribune

“In depicting Salome, Voigt relied on well-chosen movements and the power and subtleties of her voice. ... She made the listener understand her character, and that can be a frightening thing. The audience members shot up at the end for an automatic standing ovation, and they clapped and cheered for a straight 12 minutes before the stage lights were turned off. But as they left the opera house, many of them were strangely silent.”
   – Associated Press

“When Voigt first appeared, the signs were promising. Dressed in red wig and flowing gown, she has never looked so lithe and graceful. As the evening progressed, it became obvious that she was in velvety glorious voice, soaring thrillingly at all the key moments, most especially the final ‘the enigma of love is greater than the enigma of death.’ Voigt is smaller, yet the voice remains big. …Voigt emerged victorious as the curtain dropped to tumultuous applause. Standing ovations, I hear, are rare at the Lyric Opera.”
   – Bloomberg News

“Voigt sings the hell out of this role … She is perhaps alone in being able to put the music first and to sing this fiendishly difficult and frequently exposed part with astonishing accuracy, power and beauty. Even if there were no "Dance of the Seven Veils" or a bloody head of a prophet on a silver platter (and there most certainly are in this production), Voigt's Salome alone could tell the entire story.”
   – Chicago Sun-Times

“Lyric Opera of Chicago is presenting its first ‘Salome’ in a decade, with the big news, of course, American soprano Deborah Voigt singing the title role for the first time in a staged production. Voigt, in a word, is fantastic in one of the prized roles of the dramatic soprano repertory. Already one of the world's renowned Isoldes, she has the vocal resources to scale the most demanding heights created by Strauss, in particular the final monologue as she caresses the severed head of Jochanaan, her prize for performing the ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ for her lecherous father.”
   – Daily Herald

Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera at San Francisco Opera, September 2006

"The focus of the evening, in the end, was Voigt, who sang Amelia in a breakout performance here in 1990's. ... The outcome was a splendidly etched portrait of a woman torn between love and duty, and Voigt made the dilemma clear in soaring, impeccably shaped melodic phrases. ... The Act 3 showpiece, 'Morrò, ma prima in grazia,' was a masterpiece of musical conjuring."
   – San Francisco Chronicle, 9.11.06 [Joshua Kosman]

Voigt's first Metropolitan Opera Tosca, April 22, 2006

"With her expressive face, she can signal emotions by batting an eyelid. Her anger, rather than building steadily during the evening, exploded in her confrontation with Scarpia at the end of the second act, when she bowled James Morris over a chair as she stabbed the evil police chief. This was no breathy, flighty diva - rather it was a woman intent on getting her way and swiftly eliminating Scarpia as an obstacle."
   – Associated Press 4.24.06 [Ronald Blum]

"A major step. ... Ms. Voigt gave an involving, impetuous and vocally burnished portrayal. ... Her bright and penetrating sound recalls Birgit Nilsson's Tosca. ... When she told Cavaradossi that she had no choice but to kill Scarpia, she leapt to a slicing high C that shook the house as she sang of thrusting the knife into his heart, then plunged two octaves to an earthy low C. ... Ms. Voigt invests the character with personal touches, bringing out Tosca's vulnerability, and sings with daring abandon during the intense confrontation with the villainous Scarpia."
   – New York Times, 4.24.06 [Anthony Tommasini]

"Deborah Voigt, gleaming as the 19th-century diva ... was making her Met debut as Tosca - even more surprising, she'd only sung the role once before. You would have imagined that singer and role were always made for one another, as they here proved. ... Voigt exudes a certain old-time operatic glamour beyond her glorious voice. Here she gave Puccini's spirited heroine with the kind of classiness I recall from my very first Tosca, about 60 years ago - Margherita Grandi as she thrillingly stabbed my first Scarpia, the legendary Mariano Stabile. ... an impressive operatic experience.
   "Bravo, Voigt! Bravo, Puccini!"
   – New York Post, 4.25.06 [Clive Barnes]

"[Ms. Voigt] brought vocal charisma and shimmering power to her portrayal, which grew stronger as the performance continued. ... The audience that [first] night gave Ms. Voigt an ardent ovation. ... I heard Ms. Voigt sing the role again on May 5, and she was more confident in her portrayal, both vocally and dramatically. ... she lets more of Tosca's insecurity come through...When the conniving Baron Scarpia, the police chief, leads Tosca into thinking that Cavaradossi is deceiving her ... Ms. Voigt's poignant Tosca, though furious, seems utterly humiliated. ... I'd ask this of those who question Ms. Voigt for her daring: Who are the great Toscas of the last 20 years that she is challenging? No one has dominated the role the way Callas and Renata Tebaldi did in the late 1950's and early 60's."
   – New York Times, 5.17.06 [Anthony Tommasini]

First Tosca at the Vienna State Opera, April 1, 2006

Simply indestructible!
"Deborah Voigt is the 80th soprano to incorporate the role of Tosca in the Vienna State Opera's production, which has been in the boards since 1958. Role-debutante Voigt is a very dramatic, intense Tosca, and has clearly profited from her extensive experience in Wagner roles. In addition to powerful attacks and climaxes, she also provided lyrical moments, thus ensuring the enthusiastic applause of an appreciative audience."
   – Kurier, April 3, 2006 [PJ]

With all her strength
"The 503rd performance of Tosca; the 80th singer in the title role; nevertheless, a major role debut at the Staatsoper. Surrounded by a compelling cast conducted by Vjekoslav Sutej, Deborah Voigt's Tosca immediately put a spell on the audience. "She has triumphed in Wagner roles, but she sings Tosca with appropriate drama, emphasis and power, but also puts her fine lyricism into play ... She was especially impressive in the great climaxes employing intense vocal expression."
   – Neue Kronen-Zeitung, 3 April 2006 [OL]

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The Met's La forza del destino

"Ms. Voigt, the second-cast Leonora in 1996, is now a drawing card in her own right, and she sings the role with a refinement and a nuance that convey Leonora's pain in all its variety - starting with her doubts about leaving her father to run off with Alvaro, and then all the agony that flows from that moment. She has the high notes and the grace to make the last act's 'Pace, pace, mio Dio' into a persuasive cry of the heart."
   – New York Times, February 22, 2006

"Voigt was in superb lustrous voice, and in that final scene produced legato singing of simple radiance."
   – New York Post, February 22, 2006

"Soprano Deborah Voigt, who last portrayed Leonora at the Met a decade ago, attacked Verdi's soaring writing with generous, gleaming tone and much heart ... Voigt's 'Pace, pace' was weary and gentle, a thing of desolate sighs, seconded by Noseda's sensitive conducting."
   – Newsday, February 23, 2006

"Voigt's ample voice encompasses Verdi's dramatic soprano roles with ease, and her Leonora had both vocal power and dramatic authority. ... She made a strong impression in the final scene with a fervent 'Pace, pace mio dio.'
   – Musical America, February 22, 2006 [George Loomis]

"Voigt was Leonora, with power and high notes to spare for her final show-stopper, 'Pace, pace, mio Dio.'"
   – Associated Press, February 21, 2006 [Mike Silverman]

AND: Voigt's first Metropolitan Opera Leonora in Verdi's Forza del destino

"In the monastery scene ... it was thrilling to hear Ms. Voigt's gleaming soprano soar over the chorus and orchestra. And her voice is steady and true to pitch."
   – New York Times, April 3, 1996

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An Evening of Cabaret with Deborah Voigt
Lincoln Center's American Songbook, January 25th, 2006

Deborah Voigt's New York Cabaret Debut Hailed by Variety!
Robert L. Daniels writes:
"Voigt crosses the opera-Broadway boundary with grace and elegance, harboring a strength reserved for special moments. She is also in the possession of a devilish sense of humor, which was delightfully used to frame a lyric with a naughty smile. ... Profoundly aware that each song has a story to tell, her delivery is expressively honest and her voice lustrous and creamy.
   "... Voigt cunningly delivered the double entendres with saucy allure and a wink of the eye. And with John Bucchino's lovely 'This Moment' and Stephen Sondheim's 'Theme from "Reds,"' the diva defined romanticism with a fervent and telling performance."
   – Variety.com, January 27, 2006

Ms. Voigt gave her first performance of "Brünnhilde's Immolation," from Wagner's Götterdämmerung, at Tanglewood, on July 16, 2005.

"Ms. Voigt's singing was blazingly powerful, deeply expressive and, as always, musically scrupulous. She has long been justly acclaimed for her Sieglinde. But on this night, for the first time in public, she sang some of Brünnhilde's music: the long and demanding Immolation Scene in 'Götterdämmerung.' ... To no one's surprise, she already sounded glorious as Brünnhilde."
   – Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, July 19, 2005

"Deborah Voigt, recreat[ed] one of her signature roles, Sieglinde, with radiant, spontaneous femininity, and taking a giant stride toward her first Brünnhilde [sang] the 'Immolation Scene' with dignity and passion."
   – Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe, July 18, 2005

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Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Act II, Cincinnati Opera

"As if the luster of her voice wasn't enough ... her gleaming sound was as golden as ever ... Voigt soared effortlessly, projecting a ravishing tone as she spun out her long, rapturous phrases. She projected a youthful glow in her opening 'hunting horn' scene with Brangäne (Lioba Braun), and her expressive powers were memorable."
   – Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 29, 2005

"Voigt's gloriously feminine, beautiful voice was radiant, matching Heppner note for note, loud, soft, high, low, and in between. Here was a perfectly matched pair on the same interpretive wavelength."
   – Charles H. Parsons, American Record Guide, September/October 2005

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Verdi: Un ballo in maschera, at the Metropolitan Opera, April 2005

"[Voigt] dominated the evening the way she usually does – vocally. Reprising the role of her 1991 house debut, the soprano was true to her signature traits. She still wields a huge sound, particularly at the top where, in this trade, size truly matters, and even at rougher moments it was hard to resist her customary lightning attack and metallic edge.

"Vocal refinement, eloquent phrasing, characterization – all occurred in the course of the performance ... [in] the final scene, [she used] hauntingly pointed lines and floated soft notes ... Her singing in the gallows scene had vulnerability [and] in an affecting 'Morrò, ma prima in grazia,' the soprano's even scale and well-placed accents worked wonders. The chest voice was used selectively and thus effectively, and the soft lines conveyed the sense of immense grief just barely contained."
   – David J. Baker, Opera News, June 2005

"How does Ms. Voigt sound ...? Absolutely terrific. The voice resonated with muscle tone. ... her moments alone on stage were powerfully done."
   – Bernard Holland, The New York Times, April 6, 2005

"Voigt was in ... effulgent form. She attacked the climax of 'Morrò, ma prima in grazia' with ... spine-tingling abandon, and her voice soared thrillingly over the final ensemble."
   – Marion Lignana Rosenberg, Newsday, April 7, 2005

"Perhaps the most luminous figure in the Met's rising vocal pantheon is Deborah Voigt. ... Ms. Voigt has been one of the world's leading dramatic sopranos for some time, and it's a pleasure to report that [on] that gleaming Cadillac of an instrument. ... Her deeply vulnerable Amelia in the current revival of A Masked Ball [Un ballo in maschera] ... reminded me of another thing that great opera stars have in common: the ability to take us inside the workings of their art. When that happens, I can't think of a better place to be."
   – Charles Michener, New York Observer, April 20, 2005

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As the Marschallin in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier

In Vienna, May 2005

"Deborah Voigt's Marschallin puts everyone else in the shade. She stops time by bringing this artificial creature to life in a captivating and natural way, and manages with her virtuosic performance to avoid any sticky sentimentality."
   – Der Standard (Vienna), May 14-15, 2005 [Peter Vujica]

In Berlin, January 2005 (role debut)

"Her portrayal was so skillful, her singing so gorgeous, that it was hard to believe she had never performed the role before. (And she looked marvelous, too.)"
   – Jochen Breiholz, andante.com

"[Voigt] sang [the Marschallin] with the same radiant voice that has won her worshipful fans throughout the operatic world; and – no doubt about it – she conquered."
   – MusicalAmerica.com

"Voigt's flowing phrasing, her intelligent shaping of character and her precise diction are rare – a psychological character study of a wise aging woman."
   – Welt am Sonntag

"A spectacular role debut. She sings the Marschallin with a dramatic Wagnerian voice, like Isolde driving through the Prater, without sacrificing the least in delicacy of line or textual comprehension: perfectly honed diction, tender and creamy phrasing. She places this 'Rosenkavalier' more firmly in the tradition of Wagner than any of her predecessors. This Marschallin is unquestionably a sensation. ... If this evening was a success, it's especially because this is a Deborah Voigt festival."
   – Berliner Morgenpost

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In Boston

Interview: "... as [Deborah Voigt] prepares to add the grueling, three-evening role of Brünnhilde in Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelungen to her repertoire soon, she's also looking forward to 'the opportunity to sing some of the roles that people would not have considered me for.' Among them: the title role in Strauss' Salome."
   – Boston Herald 3/11/04

Christmas with Gay Men's Chorus

... with "special guest soloist, the superstar soprano Deborah Voigt."

In Chicago: Schoenberg's "Erwartung"

"Voigt's resonant, glittering soprano was an ideal instrument for this hurtling, high-stakes journey. Like the CSO and Barenboim, she was completely at home in Schoenberg's frighteningly unstable universe. Veering between hysteria and comforting memories of past moments with her lover, she was the very image of a human being trying to make sense of the inexplicable. The final moments, with Voigt's distracted song ending in mid-sentence and the orchestra seeming to trundle idly away into the mist, was a powerful portrait of coldly implacable fate."
   – Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Sun-Times, 10/30/04 [ to full review ]

"Deborah Voigt had everything required to deliver a spellbinding vocal tour de force - laser-beam high notes, a rich, gleaming, voluminous soprano sound that easily cut through the densest textures, remarkably accurate pitch and fine German diction. She evoked our compassion for Schoenberg's nutcase-heroine, no mean feat. Newly slimmed down, the Illinois-born diva looked great in a gray silk organza ensemble: no little black cocktail dress, please note."
   – John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, 10/30/04 [ to full review ]

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In concert at Tanglewood

"Friday night's concert brought a radiant Deborah Voigt, rapturously applauded for her gorgeous performance of Wagner's 'Wesendonck' Songs; for her, singing this well is the best revenge for the flak she has taken for her weight. Debut conductor Gianandrea Noseda micromanaged the accompaniments but didn't get in the soprano's way. Noseda's views on the prelude from Wagner's Lohengrin and a suite from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet were of interest, but he did get in his own way with a florid and melodramatic podium technique that was more distracting than informative."
   – Richard Dyer, Boston Globe, August 17, 2004 [ to full review ]

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Die Walküre at Ravinia

"Voigt was in glorious voice. She sang with ample, lustrous tone, easily riding the crests of Wagnerian sound with plenty of sound in reserve. Her timbre was at once bright and girlish, plush and womanly. No other Sieglinde today can deliver the narrative 'Der Männer Sippe' with such warm urgency, or welcome her lover's embrace, in 'Du bist der Lenz,' with such ecstatic radiance. The lack of stage direction was not at all bothersome since Voigt acted tellingly with her face and voice."
   – Chicago Tribune, July 2004

"The Ravinia Festival's centennial celebration hit its stride Sunday night. As soprano Deborah Voigt ... soared through Act I of Wagner's 'Die Walkure' ... a sense of Ravinia's past was inescapable. The park's original wooden pavilion, where the world's greatest opera stars appeared in full-length, staged productions from 1919 to 1931, is long gone. But Voigt is a star of similar magnitude, a worthy successor to such Ravinia opera legends as Rosa Raisa and Claudia Muzio. Even in a concert performance, without the benefit of costumes and scenery, she was riveting…Resplendent in a turquoise gown and sheer gold coat, elaborate jewels and coiffure, Voigt looked as radiant as she sounded. Her gleaming soprano is flexible and full of color, turning such small moments as an urgent, whispered question or a brief flash of anger at Hunding into key psychological turning points. In the opera's big moments, especially the final duet with Siegmund, her singing was rhapsodic, sailing atop the sumptuous waves of the orchestra with seemingly limitless power and ease."
   – Chicago Sun-Times, July 2004

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Deborah Voigt in recital at Carnegie Hall, with Brian Zeger at the piano Photo © Richard Termine/The New York Times

Carnegie Hall recital, April 7th, 2004

"Musically, the high points of the program were Tchaikovsky's contemplative romance 'Was I Not a Little Blade of Grass,' delivered with a voluptuous shimmer, and Stephen Sondheim's 'Losing My Mind', which began conversationally, built by imperceptible degrees to a genuinely and grandly operatic finish, and yet never lost its sense of intimacy. ... At her best, [Voigt] exults in the glory of her instrument, and she did so here. "
   – Opera Now, July/August 2004

"Ms. Voigt proved yet again that she has one of the world's most thrilling voices, a sun-drenched soprano capable of filling a hall made for symphony orchestras with self-amplified brilliance ... Operagoers who had seen Ms. Voigt only behind the Met's golden curtain were startled to discover a diva who could put over a wicked pastiche of lowdown tomfoolery, like William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein's 'Toothbrush Time,' or a Sondheim torch song like 'Losing My Mind,' as effortlessly as a selection of shimmering lieder by Schubert and Strauss. She segued from the wrenching soulfulness of two Tchaikovsky songs to the quirky rambunctiousness of Charles Ives to the deft sweetness of the contemporary composer Ben Moore—all without ever lowering her sights. During one of her encores, a hilarious lament written for her by Mr. Moore about the perils of being a Wagnerian diva, she brought down the house with a reference to 'the little black dress.' A few minutes later, she delivered Brünnhilde's octave-leaping 'Hojotoho' from Die Walküre with bull's-eye accuracy and power. It could be read as a signal to her fans that at the age of 43 she's prepared to tackle the most daunting of Wagner's heroines—and also as a 'Take that!' to those ... Brits."
   – New York Observer, April 2004

"Voigt proves she's fit for any stage ... To anyone who would cast doubt on her suitability for the stage, soprano Deborah Voigt responded Sunday night with all the unstoppable weapons in her arsenal: her generous and thrillingly dramatic vocalism, her attention to language and the sheer theatrical panache of her presence ... Voigt showed off a range of interpretive approaches, from blazing intensity to casual ease. And she did it all with the blend of humor and brilliant precision that has always characterized her best work ... 'Ich trage meine Minne' was impeccably shaped, and the soaring phrases of 'Befreit' swept all before them ... Returning after intermission in a more folksy vein, Voigt romped through a nosegay of Ives songs, evincing no trouble with the metrical complexities of 'Two Little Flowers' and 'The Side Show' and bringing a sentimental edge to the great diptych 'Memories.' She showed her chops as a cabaret singer with four tuneful songs of Ben Moore, followed by familiar favorites from William Bolcom and Stephen Sondheim. The latter's 'I Never Do Anything Twice,' the Marlene Dietrich knockoff from the film 'The Seven Percent Solution,' was a comic highlight ... That Voigt is a large woman is as obvious as it is ultimately beside the point. She is also a star, with all that that implies. She carries herself with assurance, she sings superbly and she projects more sex appeal than three sunken-eyed waifs put together."
   – Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 2004

"Ms. Voigt, 43, wears not only [Helen] Traubel's mantle at the Met, but those of pretty much all the great female interpreters of Wagner and Richard Strauss. But her program ... also emphasized her abilities as a first-rate singer of popular American song. More important, she sang this repertoire not as encores, but as part of her program. ... she is one of the few who can accomplish this without raising the faintly disquieting specter of 'crossover.' ... her approach is uncompromising.
   ... Ms. Voigt sings works like 'Losing My Mind,' from Mr. Sondheim's 'Follies' ... in the same soprano register she lavishes on Schubert or Strauss. ... Ms. Voigt's diction is so fine that she deliberately left the humorous texts of three songs out of the program so that she could interpret them without the audience reading ahead of her. That's a brave challenge in a hall of Carnegie's size (not to mention with Barbara Cook seated in a box), but Ms. Voigt was crystal clear, and her comedic timing perfect. ... she moves with such grace and offers herself, her voice and her music with such graciousness that physical weight is not an issue in her performance, just as, for the same reasons, it was never an issue for Luciano Pavarotti in his prime. Moreover, she is a handsome woman whose expressive face perfectly complements her voice.
   ... Her choices of German and Russian Lieder proffered ample opportunity for nuanced, contrasting acting. ... Sung by Ms. Voigt, the haunting, Byronic 'Der Zwerg' (the Dwarf) was a bridge between Schubert's more famous ballad "The Erl-King" and Senta's ballad in Wagner's 'Flying Dutchman.' Later she tossed off Strauss's "Nichts" (Nothing) with consummate insouciance, in contrast with an achingly moving account of 'Befreit' (Freed) ... in which she let the final line – 'and bless me and weep with me, O joy!' – soar heavenward.
   ... And throughout this final love feast between Ms. Voigt and her audience, she leavened her uncompromising artistry with an irresistible sense of sexy self-mockery – like Mae West's, but without the camp. It was a night to remember." [ full review ]
   – Barrymore Laurence Scherer, Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2004

"[Deborah Voigt] is a first-class – absolutely boffo – recitalist. ... [she] sang a recital in Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, an event that will endure in the memories of those present. Its program was well chosen, and superbly executed. ... The soprano began with a group of Schubert, starting with 'Auflösung.' You don't want a mousy little 'recital' voice there! Miss Voigt poured it on, filling the hall, making the song what it should be. ... In 'Litanei auf das Fest aller Seelen,' Miss Voigt defined what is perhaps her foremost quality: refulgence. Really, this is a historic voice, and we might as well acknowledge it now. Everyone will, once that voice is gone, available only on CD, that oftpitiful souvenir.
   ...'Der Zwerg' was full of character – dreadful and disturbing – ... After the Schubert came a group of Richard Strauss, the composer Miss Voigt was born to sing. ... Closing the printed program were two Sondheim songs, the first 'Losing My Mind,' from "Follies," tremendously, tremendously sad. It was beautifully sung – how could it not have been? One did not hear Broadway emotion, but rather real emotion.
   ... Then Miss Voigt did something quite, quite interesting. She is, of course, always Sieglinde in Die Walküre. She never gets to sing those hojotohos, which belong to Brünnhilde. ... But, of course, one wants to sing them, and, at Carnegie Hall, Miss Voigt belted them out, only you can't say 'belted,' because these hojotohos were so marvelously, gloriously, refulgently lyrical. These notes are supposed to be hard and metallic (!). But from Miss Voigt's throat, nothing could be. I felt I had never properly heard them.
   ... Miss Voigt smiled big on this night of triumph, as she had proven, once more, that a recital with her is one to remember, and learn from, and thrill to."
   – Jay Nordlinger, New York Sun, April 12, 2004

"Ms. Voigt responded to the [ardent opening] ovation by bringing her glorious voice, communicative artistry and musical intelligence to an adventurous program ... It was particularly rewarding to hear Ms. Voigt in the American repertory. ... That she cherishes words came through in her clear diction and direct expression in conveying Mr. Moore's songs. ... Ms. Voigt's understated and vocally exquisite approach [to two Sondheim songs] offered its own rewards. ... Ms. Voigt tossed off, just for fun, Brünnhilde's 'Hojotoho' cries from Die Walküre, sung with effortless power and shimmering top notes. Was she sending another message? Is Brünnhilde the next Wagner role in Ms. Voigt's sights? Let's hope so."    [ full review ]
   – New York Times, Anthony Tommasini, April 9, 2004

"Strauss offered Voigt a chance to sail in at full power, and she was particularly impressive in 'Befreit' (Freed), coloring its opening soft passages with a gentle, hooded tone and rising to the big final climax before dipping gently into the last quiet notes. ..."   [ full review ]
   – New York Post, Shirley Fleming, April 9, 2004

"She walked onstage as if she owned the place. She owned the composers too ... in songs such as "Down East" and "The Circus Band" Voigt gave Ives' sentimental Americanisms a warm and homespun honesty that was just as appealing. ... But it was her lustrous singing of three Strauss lieder (including 'Nichts' and 'Befreit') that were the highlight of the evening, and one in which composer and singer truly met as equals. ... She knows not just Strauss' notes but his dialect ... with great shafts of sunlit tone. ... Voigt found the little operas that lived within them. ... As a singer's singer, she's still the best we've got."    [ full review ]
   – Newsday, Russell Platt, April 9, 2004

"What distinguishes Voigt is her ability to maintain pretty notes throughout the register and her ability to sustain power at the top. ... The voice sold the tickets, not the dress."    [ full review ]
   – Associated Press, Ron Blum, April 9, 2004

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Dayton recital, April 2004

"The nearly 2,000 ticketholders in attendance for Voigt's first Dayton appearance Tuesday night couldn't get enough of her vocal splendors – repeatedly calling her back to the stage for five encores. And that was following a prepared program that included art songs, arias and Broadway show tunes, all performed with uncompromising technical perfection and emotional nuance. Some listeners cried, they were so moved by the Chicago-born singer's abilities ... Voigt doesn't just land the high notes with what seems like natural ease, but she understands the inner life of a song – its pathos, its humor, its joy or its pain. She knows the value of a well-placed pause, letting the silence speak as loudly as any gong, and she uses dynamics with both intelligence and heart. What's more, Voigt's voice – her incredible, glorious voice – is complimented by a delightfully charming personality and a regal, yet accessible stage presence.
   – Carol Simmons, Dayton Daily News, April 2004

"Voigt's vocal virtuosity dazzles ... the invincible Voigt proved in her multi-layered recital that she is not only one of the world's greatest singers, but she also has a great sense of humor ... From the first notes of her recital on Tuesday, it was clear that this is the era of the soprano, and her name is Deborah Voigt ... She walked out to bravos, and launched into a group of Schubert songs, her voice as resplendent as her glittering turquoise gown. Her delivery was communicative and radiant, and her diction flawless. The effortless power of her high notes was astonishing, and she sang with wonderful color in every range."
   – Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 2004

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Die Walküre, Metropolitan Opera, March 29th, 2004

"As Sieglinde [at the Met], golden-voiced Deborah Voigt conveys the radiance of a young woman awakened by love."
   – Howard Kissel, Daily News (New York), April 2004

"Ms. Voigt movingly projects Sieglinde's vulnerability and pain. Yet here is this glorious dramatic soprano exuding vocal charisma, seeming godly as Sieglinde should, and certainly sounding godly."
   – New York Times, Anthony Tommasini, March 31, 2004

"Deborah Voigt as Sieglinde coated the music with her demiglace soprano ... Voigt remained in her prime throughout. Her hot, flowing voice pours out amid the orchestra, bonding its disparate tones."
   – Newsday, Justin Davidson, April 2, 2004

"Voigt, with her powerful, silvery voice soaring through 'Du bist der Lenz' ('You are spring'), joined Domingo for a love scene that takes up most of the hour-plus long Act I."
   – Associated Press, March 31, 2004

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The Metropolitan Opera's Die Frau Ohne Schatten

"Ethereal Queen Redeemed By Her Human Heart: The production returned to the company on Monday night, with Ms. Voigt back in all her glory ... Ms. Voigt's voice was as radiant as her shimmering silver and royal blue gown. She captured the ethereal quality of the character, tossing off the high-flying vocal flourishes with the agility of a coloratura. Yet during the anguished soliloquies when the Empress ponders her choices, Ms. Voigt sent Strauss's arching vocal lines soaring over the lush orchestra."
   – Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, November 19, 2003

"Returning from the original cast [is] soprano Deborah Voigt, in rapturous voice as the Empress and even more moving in her renunciation scene than previously ..."
   – Mike Silverman, Associated Press, November 19, 2003

"As before, the performance's centerpiece was the Empress of Deborah Voigt. Her soprano gleams brilliantly from bottom to shining top: The role calls for both delicacy and power – a sweet, staccato high D in the first act and long-breathed, tender singing leads to long stretches of high, forceful exclamation, and the role held no fears for Voigt. The leap from fortissimo high C to the C two octaves below in her last act monolog was handily dispatched."
   – Robert Levine, Classics Today, November 19, 2003

"Deborah Voigt sang the Empress with her usual easy-sailing splendor. A Strauss soprano of potentially historic distinction, she succeeded in embodying the elusive spirit of the composer – a smoldering fire – which few of his contemporaries saw. The stages of the Empresses's transformation were beautifully controlled. We first met the character in a state of innocent self-satisfaction, which took the form of Voigt finding pleasure in her own magnificent voice: pearly high notes, frivolous roulades, even a Marilyn Monroe-like purr. Later, she grew uncertain, fearful, desparate. By the end, she was standing at the lip of the stage, shouting instead of singing, as if the imprisonment of the Emperor would also mean the end of her operatic career. Most singers deliver only framents of the spoken-word monologue with which the Empress expresses her anguish, but Voigt tackled it all, and in the daringly long silence that followed you could hear her gasping for breath."
   – The New Yorker January 7, 2002

"Deborah Voigt, the stately Empress, sings with unfailingly lustrous tone, endless stamina and fine expressive restraint."
Financial Times, Dec 17, 2001

"Deborah Voigt was regal as the shadowless Empress, and her plush, pillowy soprano possessed its own aureole of light. She is a desperate and slightly bewildered sovereign, and Voigt sang her aloofly, as if all the shadow-stealing and consorting with working-class humans were undignified."
   – Newsday, December, 2001

"German director Herbert Wernicke, who also designed the sets, costumes and lighting. It's been a long time since a director has been cheered so ecstatically by a Met audience during curtain calls. The company should immediately offer him any future opera he wants to produce. The brilliant German conductor Christian Thielemann led an impassioned and revelatory performance, eliciting inspired singing from a committed cast headed by the glorious dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt as the Empress. The production is an engrossing, visually beautiful and musically distinguished realization of one of opera's most problematic works.
   "Ms. Voigt's singing is as radiant as her sequined cape. Her voice soars effortlessly over the orchestra. Her phrasing is exquisite; her diction and musicianship are flawless; her portrayal is beguilingly vulnerable."
   – The New York Times, December, 2001

"Soprano Deborah Voigt is surely the finest Empress since the late Leonie Rysanek ..."
   – Associated Press, December, 2001

"Die Frau ... the premiere of 'Die Frau,' ... a unanimous triumph ..."
   – Le Monde, December, 2001

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Voigt's Aida Is Assured – The New York Times, Jan. 18, 2003

Deborah Voigt as Isolde

"This was Deborah Voigt's first crack at Isolde – the soprano will sing the complete role in Vienna in 2003 – and it is already an impressive vocal achievement. Her voice is firm, securely placed, and evenly produced from top to bottom, and she phrases with care and musical distinction."
   – Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine, February 25, 2002

"About Deborah Voigt's voice, and singing, there is little left to say. One runs out of words. But I will continue to talk: She sends glorious, unblemished walls of sound at you, overwhelming you. She feels the music superbly, being a musician as well as a singer, a throat freak. She can give you astounding volume (at no sacrifice of beauty), but only when appropriate, not just to show off or subdue. All of her notes are resplendent, from the lowest — which are not just audible (not always the case with sopranos) but big! — to the highest. I have caviled before that she can be too sturdy a singer, but her "Lausch, Geliebter!" — to take one example — was unbelievably tender. ... We have no need to whimper over Flagstad or Nilsson: Voigt will make — is making — an Isolde that would have brought Wagner to his knees. Seldom has the lil' princess been treated to such beauty, power, and understanding, all together."
   – Jay Nordlinger, National Review online, February 23 and 24

"Deborah Voigt has just the huge but supple soprano needed for Isolde's weight-bearing raptures. This was her first time singing the role, yet she seemed to have it already streaming through her veins. Wagner's writing makes it a challenge to keep Isolde's love from sounding like wrath or severe distress, but Voigt sang even her potentially shrieky moments with tenderness and ease."
   – New York Newsday, February 9, 2002

"Deborah Voigt took hold of the role of Isolde on Thursday with all the vocal power and intensity one would expect. There seemed no limit to her resources, and even after the lengthy outpouring of earlier episodes, the 'Liebestod' piled climax upon climax in unexpected magnitude. In the face of such forcefulness, her Tristan, the experienced Wagnerian Stig Andersen, seemed somehow diminished ­ not quite the lover for such a powerhouse. His tenor did not project well initially, but he gained in strength as the performance progressed, and the two singers settled comfortably into their duets, striking a nice balance in volume and expressiveness."
   – Musical America, February 11, 2002

"... her voice blossomed into full power, grasping the broad vocal range and the shifting dynamics with driving command. Fresh from her triumphant portrayal of the empress in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Richard Strauss' 'Die Frau ohne Schatten,' Voigt showed she is ready to step into Isolde's challenging shoes in a full operatic performance."
   – Associated Press

"... with these performances she takes a big step toward Isolde, a role she will sing complete at the Vienna State opera in the spring of 2003. Fear not, Deborah Voigt fans. She knows what she is doing. She sang the music with power to spare and where called for, lyrical grace and lovely pianissimos ... it is a pleasure to hear the music sung so beautifully and intelligently."
   – The New York Times

Reviews of "Salome" in Tanglewood

"... most of the excitement had to do with the soprano Deborah Voigt, who was singing the title role of the opera ... There was a clear dramatic will at work in Ms. Voigt's portrayal, which drew both its heft and its nuance from her thoughtful use of vocal color. Hers was a confidently imperious Salome, whose voice dripped with contempt for everyone around her, not least her stepfather, Herod. And she maintained the undercurrent of venom even while showing the power of Salome's allure, when she seduces Narraboth into allowing her to speak with Jochanaan."
   – The New York Times, Aug. 7, 2001

" Voigt brought imposing physical and vocal presence and a strikingly expressive face to the role ... Voigt delivered awesome power, stamina, and steadily blazing tone ... she ... flooded the music with the full, blinding heat of a desert sun."
   – Boston Globe, Aug. 6, 2001

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Review of "Tosca" with the Florida Grand Opera

"Voigt, who has gone radiantly soaring in Wagner and Strauss, also possesses the seemingly infinite power and tonal sheen to make Tosca thrilling. I don't know who else right now might sing Puccini's ecstatic outbursts with more opulence.
Hers is not the velvety dark Italian timbre heard in Muzio's vintage recordings, nor does it recall the creamy lyric luster of Renata Tebaldi. Rather, Voigt's is a sumptuous, glinting, hugely powerful soprano, a bit reminiscent of the Nordic timbre of Birgit Nilsson, yet also whipped with Italian cream.
   "She's also an intelligent actress who understands Tosca's cajolery and flashes of jealousy.
   "As an actress she's so deeply in the role that Vissi d'arte was not just an aria she stopped to sing, but also a critical moment in Tosca's encounter with Scarpia at the Farnese Palace."
   – Miami Herald, May 17, 2001

Review of "LES TROYENS" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
"... the evening belonged to soprano Deborah Voigt ... It is a consistent joy to witness this great artist at the very summit of her career"
   – Chicago Tribune, February 10, 2001