Deborah Voigt's winter, spring, and summer 2010

America’Äôs Top Dramatic Soprano Makes Her Zurich Opera Debut Singing Strauss Next Month, Before Returning to Met in April to Star in Wagner’Äôs Flying Dutchman

Deborah Voigt, one of the great American voices, continues her stellar international season, showing her range from Wagner and Strauss to Puccini and Bernstein. The soprano is currently singing her first Isolde in Barcelona, with the Gran Teatre del Liceu production of Wagner’Äôs Tristan und Isolde running until February 20. It was her inimitable way with this iconic, ultra-demanding role that led to a 20-minute ovation at the Vienna State Opera, an event reported on CNN, and to acclaimed performances of it at New York’Äôs Metropolitan Opera and Chicago’Äôs Lyric Opera. A week after her Isolde in Spain, Voigt makes her Zurich Opera debut, singing the title role of Richard Strauss’Äôs Ariadne auf Naxos (Feb 27) ’Äì an especially promising prospect if, as the New York Times claims, ’ÄúAlmost any Strauss role the voice of Deborah Voigt touches turns to gold!’Äù Illustrating another side of her art, she will perform a recital in Zurich on March 15, singing material by Verdi, Strauss, and Respighi, as well as American songs by Leonard Bernstein, Amy Beach, and Ben Moore.

Voigt returns to her home stage of New York’Äôs Metropolitan Opera on April 23 to make her house debut in a psychologically and vocally intense role: Senta in Wagner’Äôs Der fliegende Hollˆ§nder (The Flying Dutchman). Voigt sang Senta with the Met company on the road in Germany and is featured on the 1994 Sony Classical studio recording of the full opera led by James Levine (with James Morris as the Dutchman and Ben Heppner as Erik). Discussing Voigt’Äôs performance of the role in 2005, Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer enthused: ’ÄúThe voice was huge, bright, and refulgent, especially at the top, and Voigt’Äôs technique extraordinary’Ķ . The full, visceral impact of her tone when she unfurls a high B-natural and sends it spinning to the back wall is a privilege of live performance.’Äù

It was in the San Francisco Opera’Äôs Merola Young Artists Program that Voigt learned the ropes of the operatic profession, and the soprano returns to the San Francisco Opera in June. To help the company celebrate the centennial of Puccini’Äôs Wild West opera, La fanciulla del West (Girl of the Golden West), Voigt will make her debut in the role of Puccini’Äôs titular heroine, Minnie. For the rest of the summer, she turns her attention to Strauss. Since her first staged performances of Salome at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2006, Voigt has become an exemplar of the title role. She sings it twice this summer, first in July under Valery Gergiev, in her debut at Switzerland’Äôs Verbier Festival, and then in Japan’Äôs Saito Kinen Festival in August.

Deborah Voigt’Äôs 2009-10 season has seen her go from strength to strength on both sides of the Atlantic. She opened Lyric Opera of Chicago’Äôs season as Puccini’Äôs Tosca under Andrew Davis and sang in a concert broadcast of Schoenberg’Äôs Gˆºrrelieder with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Mariss Jansons. Voigt has given more than 160 performances in more than a dozen roles besides concerts, galas, and surprise appearances at New York’Äôs Metropolitan Opera since 1991, and earlier this season, she sang her signature role of Chrysothemis in the Met’Äôs December run of Strauss’Äôs Elektra. The soprano made special appearances at WNYC’Äôs annual fund-raising gala, a gala concert for the Dallas Opera’Äôs new home of Winspear Opera House, and the fifth annual Opera News Awards. She also reprised her role as host of the Met’Äôs ’ÄúLive in HD’Äù broadcasts, lending her engaging personality to the international transmission of Offenbach’Äôs Contes d’ÄôHoffmann (Tales of Hoffmann). It has been the kind of season that inspired the Wall Street Journal to write: ’ÄúVoigt is riding high in the opera house and on the recital stage. Not only has her majestic voice made her fans love her, but so has the soprano’Äôs profound feeling for texts and subtleties of musical style, not to mention her genuine sense of humor.’Äù

Since her breakthrough appearance in Ariadne auf Naxos at Boston’Äôs Lyric Opera in 1991, Deborah Voigt has appeared on the world’Äôs greatest stages, from New York’Äôs Metropolitan Opera, Chicago’Äôs Lyric Opera, and the San Francisco Opera to London’Äôs Royal Opera House, Milan’Äôs La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Berlin Deutsche Oper, and Opera Bastille in Paris. The soprano has featured in complete recordings of Tristan und Isolde (Deutsche Grammophon) and Der fliegende Hollˆ§nder (Sony Classical); Strauss’Äôs Die ˆ§gyptische Helena (Telarc), Ariadne auf Naxos (Deutsche Grammophon), Elektra (Deutsche Grammophon), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Teldec), and Friedenstag (Deutsche Grammophon); and Berlioz’Äôs Les Troyens (Decca). Voigt’Äôs two solo recordings for Angel/EMI ’Äì All My Heart (an all-American album, 2005) and Obsessions (Wagner and Strauss scenes, 2004) ’Äì were bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart. Voigt has appeared on Good Morning America and 60 Minutes, and her honors include being named vocalist of the year by Musical America in 2003, as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of South Carolina in 2009. For more information, visit www.deborahvoigt.com.

Deborah Voigt: winter, spring and summer 2010

Jan 27 & 31; Feb 4, 8, 12, 16, & 20

Barcelona, Spain

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Isolde)

Gran Teatre del Liceu / Sebastian Weigle

Feb 27; March 5, 9, & 14

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (title role)

Zurich Opera (debut) / Mark Elder

March 15

Zurich, Switzerland

Recital

April 23, 26, & 30; May 3, 6, 10, & 14

New York, NY

Wagner: Der fliegende Hollˆ§nder (Senta)

Metropolitan Opera / Kazushi Ono

June 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, 27, & 29; July 2

San Francisco, CA

Puccini: La fanciulla del West (Minnie, role debut)

San Francisco Opera / Nicola Luisotti

July 28 ’Äì Aug 1 [dates tbd]

Verbier, Switzerland

R. Strauss: Salome (title role)

Verbier Festival / Valery Gergiev

Aug 23, 26, 29, & 31

Matsumoto, Japan

R. Strauss: Salome (title role)

Saito Kinen Festival

www.deborahvoigt.com