Voigt sings Puccini’s “Golden Girl,” Wagner’s Brünnhilde, more
Soprano Deborah Voigt has embodied Puccini’s “Golden Girl” – the pistol-packing, poker-playing barmaid Minnie, one of her favorite roles – in productions of La fanciulla del West from San Francisco to Chicago to New York over the past few seasons, including the centennial revival of the work at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010. In a characteristic review, the Chicago Sun-Times declared that her “absolute characterization and conviction as Minnie were equally commanding and inviting. This is a heart-of-gold woman who can use a six-shooter and keep a man’s world of miners in line, but one who also itches for love and even book learning.” Voigt reprises her Minnie at Opéra Royal de Liège in Belgium from February 22 to March 5. The soprano resumes another of her all-time favorite roles, Wagner’s Brünnhilde, in Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung from April 13 to May 11 at the Metropolitan Opera, in Robert Lepage’s production of the Ring cycle. Writing about Voigt’s Brünnhilde in previous performances of this Met Ring, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times said: “I have seldom heard the role sung with such rhythmic accuracy and verbal clarity. From the start, with those go-for-broke cries of ‘Hojotoho,’ she sang every note honestly. She invested energy, feeling and character in every phrase. … This was a compelling and creditable Brünnhilde.” Later in May, Voigt makes her performance debut in China with orchestral concerts in Beijing and Shanghai.
Elsewhere this spring, Voigt sings orchestral songs by Richard Strauss and the “Liebestod” from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with the Orlando Philharmonic on March 16. Musical America has said that Voigt is “widely acknowledged as the greatest living interpreter of the dramatic heroines of Wagner and Richard Strauss,” while ClassicsToday added: “Deborah Voigt is arguably today’s reigning Straussian soprano. … Her ample soprano fears no orchestral climax – they exist for her to ride over.” Besides a concert in Reykjavík, Iceland with the Iceland Symphony (March 22), Voigt is also giving recitals in the U.S. this spring, in Oberlin, OH (March 10) and Northridge, CA (May 19). About her charms on the recital stage, the New York Times said: “The first thing to be said about Deborah Voigt – that is, apart from the obvious, which is that she has an enormous, powerful soprano that is fully in her control – is that she knows how to put together a compelling recital program.”
In May, Voigt travels to China to make her performance debut in the country, performing orchestral concerts with the Chain Philharmonic in Beijing (May 25) and with the Shanghai Philharmonic in Shanghai (May 31). The soprano caps her season on June 8 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, singing in a gala for the Puerto Rico Symphony.
Deborah Voigt: upcoming engagements
Feb 22, 24, 26, 28, March 2, 5, 2013
Liège, Belgium
Opéra Royal de Liège, Wallonie
Puccini: La fanciulla del West
More info.
March 10, 2013
Oberlin, OH
Oberlin Conservatory
Recital
More info.
March 16, 2013
Orlando, FL
Orlando Philharmonic
Orchestrated Strauss Songs and Wagner: Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
More info.
March 22
Reykjavík, Iceland
Iceland Symphony
April 13 & May 6, 2013
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Wagner: Die Walküre
More info.
April 20 & May 8, 2013
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Wagner: Siegfried
More info.
April 23 & May 11, 2013
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
More info.
May 19, 2013
Northridge, CA
Valley Performing Arts Center
California State University
Recital
More info.
May 25
Beijing, China
Chain Philharmonic
Orchestral concert
May 31
Shanghai, China
Shanghai Philharmonic
Orchestral concert
June 8
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Symphony
Orchestra concert (gala)
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