This is an amazing performance by two amazing singers. I particularly love Deborah Voigt here. The voice is big and strong and she acts as well. What is not to love!
Deborah is great singer. Attendees Cal state Fullerton and studied with Jan Smith. Saw her in I’ll tea store and she was amazing. The only famous opera singer out of Orange County. Alleluia.
See below for more related to this comment. I heard her in her first major role after the surgery. It was Salome at the Lyric in Chicago. I had heard her there several times in the great Strauss roles and other roles so I had something to compare to upon hearing her in her new body. Her voice was just as large but it had a less velvety tone to it. She filled the house as she had done pre-operation and the added ability to move well made her Salome memorable. Her later decline, in my opinion as a long-term opera attender, was more related to being pushed by Levine to sing Brunnhilde in particular and overall the larger Wagner roles. Hers was really not a Wagner voice even though you would think it would be given its size. She was a Strauss soprano [perhaps the best one of the 20th Century] whose vocal demands are large but different from Wagner. We must be thankful for any recording or live experience of her voice but no one who did not hear her before she took on Brunnhilde will never truly know her voice.
I would have to agree Wilson well said. There is a difference between singing the majority of composers who compose for the Dramatic Soprano voice versus singing Wagnerian Soprano roles. Wagner's orchestrations are very dense and thick. Thus, a different, certain quality of voice has to be there to sing Wagner- either you have it or not.
Her concert performance of Die ägyptische Helena in Strasbourg was one of the highlights of my opera going career. Also, seeing her in Die Frau ohne Schatten and several times as Ariadne were most memorable.
People tend to lump Wagner and Strauss singers together, but they make entirely different demands on sopranos (and other voice types). Strauss is for singers who can maintain a high tessitura, whereas Wagner really pushes the middle voice through a heavy orchestra. The Walkure Brunnhilde starts high with Hojotoho, then drops down to the contralto range for the Annunciation scene. Voigt was a wonderful Elsa and Elisabeth, but Brunnhilde and Isolde pushed her beyond her limits.
Only those who heard her in the 1990's can really have an idea of what a spectacular voice she.had. I saw her in Ariadne, as the Empress in Die Frau, as Cassandra in Troyens, as Crhysothemis in Elektra, as Sieglinde in Walkure, and as Salome just after she had the surgery. He voice was one of the largest I have ever heard [and I saw Nilsson, Sutherland, Farrel live] and even immediately after the weight loss was still gorgeous. It is unfortunate that she, who was truly a Strauss soprano, was pushed into the heaviest Wagner role by Levine. He did a disservie to her, to the Met and to Wagner in doing that.
I really love this duet, and in particular hearing Deborah Voight. She sounds so amazingly wonderful here and really makes this look easy. I met her once backstage when I was singing with Seattle Opera Chorus. She is lovely and down to earth. Thanx for posting.
The modern operatic world is so screwy. They take a fine singer like Deborah Voight with a tremendous voice in the body it belongs in, then criticize her for being big. I'd rather hear a fine voice than see some skinny person. Hollywood and the Opera world hold the same values, as much as opera pretends to be "above" it all. What a shame. She should have been left alone to be as big as she needed to be to keep her voice healthy.
I hope one day we get over that. Her voice was so extraordinary here. I imagine the next Pavarotti couldn't get a role anywhere either. You'd think thee lesson would have been learned after the death of Mario Lanza, but no.
hobo1975The body and voice of a trained singer are a finely equilibrated organism, and a sudden loss of weight costs muscle mass as well as fat, and disturbs a thousand nerve adjustments developed over many years. It may not be the only reason, as it wasn’t for Callas, but it is likely to be one.
David Perkins I just said Maria did not seem to lose her voice after her weight loss. I think you misunderstood what I said. I always enjoyed Debra's singing.
Here I am responding to many of the entries below. The weight loss by itself was not the problem for Voigt. I heard her, pre-surgery, in several Straus soprano roles at the Chicago Lyric and have rarely ever heard a greater voice in over 50 years of opera attendance on three continents. I heard her first new role after the surgery [Strauss' Salome] and she was superb but already the voice had a slight edge that it had not had before [I had heard her in 6 other Strauss and Wagner roles]. I think that she was a supreme Strauss soprano who was pushed into the heaviest, and not appropriate, Wagner roles by James Levine because he wanted to have found the next great Isolde and Brunnhilde. She should not have sung either role and this led to the deterioration of her voice, not the weight loss.
You are correct on all counts. I was at the opening night of her Salome in Chicago and recall it as a great personal triumph. The Ballo Amelia was a good role for her. I think her best role was Ariadne.
Much as I enjoyed this and always enjoy M. Voight,there is an even better version, with Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli, from 79? 80? at the met, which is really something spectacular and which I tried to up load for fellow Verdi lovers but failed abysmally. Agree the slightly later ['83? '84?]April Millo/Pav production may be even better still. Isn't it great to have them all to choose from?
Thats a bit unfair- having an accent, American or otherwise, is not a defect, after all- it adds a certain colour to her Italian, as Pav's heavily accented French did in with his Tonio. If the 'wrong' accent spoilt a performance you would have to write off every American singer before they even made their début. I certainly don't think her accent detracts from her performance.
The weight loss=voice loss argument is not true for any singer with proper technique who also chooses her repertoire carefully. Even as late as 1962 [9 years after the weight loss] Callas could still sing beautifully. However, she had been through a number of personal losses of a different kind that sapped her energy for the work. Voigt had one of the largest and most beautiful voices I have ever heard in an opera house [ and yes, I heard late Callas, Sutherland, Caballe, Tebaldi, and many others over 54 years of operagoing] when she was heavy. However, I heard her in the Salome, which was her first new role after the weight loss and the voice was just as large although it had a slightly brighter more metallic sound than the sumptuous gold of the pre-weight loss voice. For both Callas and Voigt what led to the vocal decline was the demands of opera houses for participation in repertoire or combinations of operas that simply were not good for the voice. Bing fired Callas for taking a stand on being asked to sing Lucia and Lady Macbeth too close to each other. After that she seemed more willing to do such stunts of extreme vocal work which is most likely [perhaps combined with personal losses] led to the slow vocal decline. Voigt was probably the greatest Strauss soprano of the 20th Century but was pushed by Levine into the heaviest of Wagner roles [especially the Brunnhildes] for which she was not an appropriate voice and went beyond her actual resources thus injuring her voice at the same time she was retraining it after the weight loss. Had she stayed with Strauss and the Jugendsopran Wagner roles [I heard her pre weight loss Sieglinde and it was magnificent] it is likely her voice would not have suffered such deterioration.
I heard her right after the announcement of her surgery at the MET doing this and I felt she held back a little. That was a couple of years ago. How is she now?
Lots of comments below about her weight issues. I just read her autobio, and she herself admits that it was difficult to be persuasive on stage in certain roles if she was 330 lbs. Fabulous voice or not, it's incredibly distracting when a stage presence is that huge... not to mention her own health. I just watched some interviews from a few years back in which she is a practical and candid woman. Seems like a major force in opera.
***** Calm your panties, I wasn't referring to quality of the singing. Deborah Voigt is still singing opera, and you've listed three already. Tomowa-Sintow should resign. Leave her great days behind her and all of that.
Anyone who doesn't think the weight lost had anything to do with it should go back and listen to Callas post weight loss. Furthermore, Voigt's weight loss was done with surgery and history has shown that abdominal surgeries wreak havoc with the support system. Add to that the tummy tuck...
***** Yes her voice had lost some of it's luster. Like Callas, Deborah Voigt had many other factors that led to the decline of her voice. That does not negate the fact weight loss, or rather, the invasive surgeries in Voigt's case did not majorly contribute to her decline. Remember in Callas' days they didn't do the abdominal surgeries I mentioned in my original post. Please note it's not the weight loss per se, but how the weight loss was achieved. For many people, including non singers, the surgeries Voigt went through are extreme.
She sounds phenomenal here. I saw her and Pav in Ball at the Met around 1997-98. I also sang in chorus with her in Klagende Lied at Avery Fisher in 1996. So big and brilliant!
Voigt was a great singer. Anyone -- a n y o n e - who thinks that a singer can radically change his/her body and not suffer vocal impacts knows little to nothing about singing. To sacrifice this wonderful instrument to the whims of gay chauvinists in opera was a crime.
Her weight loss indeed contributed significantly to her vocal woes. Anytime a singer loses weight rapidly she loses something that beforehand passively gave a lot of "push" and support to the diaphragm, namely the gut. When that support is gone, the singer has to relearn how to support by very actively using the abdominal muscles. Muscle memory and habits is extremely difficult to retrain when the singer has been singing a certain way for decades. The combination of the weight loss with singing inappropriate repertory led to the decline in Debbie's voice which we hear today. Very sad to hear regardless of why it happened.
***** Furthermore, weight loss through surgery is far worse for the abdominal muscles than just the weight loss itself. She also had a tummy tuck which couldn't have been good...
No doubt Voight is a great singer but she can't sing with Pavarotti, he speaks the Italian so clear then you can see that a International level soprano can't pronounce latin language even with the greatest training.
![LUCIANO PAVAROTTI & LEONTYNE PRICE [Un ballo in máschera]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S6Hdh0lSYrU/mqdefault.jpg)
![LUCIANO PAVAROTTI & LEONTYNE PRICE [Un ballo in máschera]](/img/tr.png)
My God, we often forget how great Deborah Voigt was in her prime.
She was magical! I listen to her every day on CZcams, wish I had been able to see her live in her prime
This is an amazing performance by two amazing singers. I particularly love Deborah Voigt here. The voice is big and strong and she acts as well. What is not to love!
Better than the Leontyne price emotionless rendition also with Pavarotti
@@crazyorganist1609 Now, now.... It's all music, and it's (almost) all good. Really hard work.
now THIS is real opera
I was at that concert and still remember it till this day. Fabulous!
Powerful and mature musicianship. Excellent singing all round.
Deborah is great singer. Attendees Cal state Fullerton and studied with Jan Smith. Saw her in I’ll tea store and she was amazing. The only famous opera singer out of Orange County. Alleluia.
Her teacher was Jane Paul Hummel
I never tire of this piece, or these two. And together! Thank god for youtube or I wouldn't ever have seen this
BRAVO both!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lovely. Amazing duo. The moments at 5:10 when she looks at him, stunning.
Wow! They were fab!
I'd say dramatic and beautiful
See below for more related to this comment. I heard her in her first major role after the surgery. It was Salome at the Lyric in Chicago. I had heard her there several times in the great Strauss roles and other roles so I had something to compare to upon hearing her in her new body. Her voice was just as large but it had a less velvety tone to it. She filled the house as she had done pre-operation and the added ability to move well made her Salome memorable. Her later decline, in my opinion as a long-term opera attender, was more related to being pushed by Levine to sing Brunnhilde in particular and overall the larger Wagner roles. Hers was really not a Wagner voice even though you would think it would be given its size. She was a Strauss soprano [perhaps the best one of the 20th Century] whose vocal demands are large but different from Wagner. We must be thankful for any recording or live experience of her voice but no one who did not hear her before she took on Brunnhilde will never truly know her voice.
I would have to agree Wilson well said. There is a difference between singing the majority of composers who compose for the Dramatic Soprano voice versus singing Wagnerian Soprano roles. Wagner's orchestrations are very dense and thick. Thus, a different, certain quality of voice has to be there to sing Wagner- either you have it or not.
Her concert performance of Die ägyptische Helena in Strasbourg was one of the highlights of my opera going career. Also, seeing her in Die Frau ohne Schatten and several times as Ariadne were most memorable.
People tend to lump Wagner and Strauss singers together, but they make entirely different demands on sopranos (and other voice types). Strauss is for singers who can maintain a high tessitura, whereas Wagner really pushes the middle voice through a heavy orchestra. The Walkure Brunnhilde starts high with Hojotoho, then drops down to the contralto range for the Annunciation scene. Voigt was a wonderful Elsa and Elisabeth, but Brunnhilde and Isolde pushed her beyond her limits.
Bravi a tutti!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pavarotti bella interpretzione,anche Deborah molto brava!
Only those who heard her in the 1990's can really have an idea of what a spectacular voice she.had. I saw her in Ariadne, as the Empress in Die Frau, as Cassandra in Troyens, as Crhysothemis in Elektra, as Sieglinde in Walkure, and as Salome just after she had the surgery. He voice was one of the largest I have ever heard [and I saw Nilsson, Sutherland, Farrel live] and even immediately after the weight loss was still gorgeous. It is unfortunate that she, who was truly a Strauss soprano, was pushed into the heaviest Wagner role by Levine. He did a disservie to her, to the Met and to Wagner in doing that.
Size-wise, how would you compare Voight, Sutherland, Nilsson, and Farrell?
@@ChrisStockslager Add Gwyneth Jones to the comparison, please!
Splendidi !
Thanks for the correction. This video has been up for 2 years and you're the first to catch it. Good eye!!
I really love this duet, and in particular hearing Deborah Voight. She sounds so amazingly wonderful here and really makes this look easy. I met her once backstage when I was singing with Seattle Opera Chorus. She is lovely and down to earth. Thanx for posting.
The modern operatic world is so screwy. They take a fine singer like Deborah Voight with a tremendous voice in the body it belongs in, then criticize her for being big. I'd rather hear a fine voice than see some skinny person. Hollywood and the Opera world hold the same values, as much as opera pretends to be "above" it all. What a shame. She should have been left alone to be as big as she needed to be to keep her voice healthy.
I hope one day we get over that. Her voice was so extraordinary here. I imagine the next Pavarotti couldn't get a role anywhere either. You'd think thee lesson would have been learned after the death of Mario Lanza, but no.
hobo1975The body and voice of a trained singer are a finely equilibrated organism, and a sudden loss of weight costs muscle mass as well as fat, and disturbs a thousand nerve adjustments developed over many years. It may not be the only reason, as it wasn’t for Callas, but it is likely to be one.
David Perkins Interesting point. Maria never lost her voice after weight loss. It was not healthy for Deb to be as big as she was.
Caroline Corman I don’t know what you mean by, “Maria never lost her voice after weight loss”? You are quarreling with the time sequence?
David Perkins I just said Maria did not seem to lose her voice after her weight loss. I think you misunderstood what I said.
I always enjoyed Debra's singing.
Italianissimi. Bravissimi!
MAGNIFICOS
Maybe La Scala still has this type of quality, but it's been a while for everywhere else... The voice she had...
La Scala most certainly does NOT have this quality anymore. It's been long gone.
Excellent performance
Well she certainly won...those were the days!
Brawississimo ! Wunderschone momenten mit der Platine musiker ! Brawississimo !
Here I am responding to many of the entries below. The weight loss by itself was not the problem for Voigt. I heard her, pre-surgery, in several Straus soprano roles at the Chicago Lyric and have rarely ever heard a greater voice in over 50 years of opera attendance on three continents. I heard her first new role after the surgery [Strauss' Salome] and she was superb but already the voice had a slight edge that it had not had before [I had heard her in 6 other Strauss and Wagner roles]. I think that she was a supreme Strauss soprano who was pushed into the heaviest, and not appropriate, Wagner roles by James Levine because he wanted to have found the next great Isolde and Brunnhilde. She should not have sung either role and this led to the deterioration of her voice, not the weight loss.
You are correct on all counts. I was at the opening night of her Salome in Chicago and recall it as a great personal triumph. The Ballo Amelia was a good role for her. I think her best role was Ariadne.
Das sind eben große Stimmen..
BRAVI ❤❤
HEAVEN
Much as I enjoyed this and always enjoy M. Voight,there is an even better version, with Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli, from 79? 80? at the met, which is really something spectacular and which I tried to up load for fellow Verdi lovers but failed abysmally. Agree the slightly later ['83? '84?]April Millo/Pav production may be even better still. Isn't it great to have them all to choose from?
Indeed, and there is also another spectacular duet Pav and Arroyo which I think is the best of all- do check it out💥💥💥
Pavarotti Millo was at the met 1991
Thats a bit unfair- having an accent, American or otherwise, is not a defect, after all- it adds a certain colour to her Italian, as Pav's heavily accented French did in with his Tonio.
If the 'wrong' accent spoilt a performance you would have to write off every American singer before they even made their début.
I certainly don't think her accent detracts from her performance.
The weight loss=voice loss argument is not true for any singer with proper technique who also chooses her repertoire carefully. Even as late as 1962 [9 years after the weight loss] Callas could still sing beautifully. However, she had been through a number of personal losses of a different kind that sapped her energy for the work. Voigt had one of the largest and most beautiful voices I have ever heard in an opera house [ and yes, I heard late Callas, Sutherland, Caballe, Tebaldi, and many others over 54 years of operagoing] when she was heavy. However, I heard her in the Salome, which was her first new role after the weight loss and the voice was just as large although it had a slightly brighter more metallic sound than the sumptuous gold of the pre-weight loss voice. For both Callas and Voigt what led to the vocal decline was the demands of opera houses for participation in repertoire or combinations of operas that simply were not good for the voice. Bing fired Callas for taking a stand on being asked to sing Lucia and Lady Macbeth too close to each other. After that she seemed more willing to do such stunts of extreme vocal work which is most likely [perhaps combined with personal losses] led to the slow vocal decline. Voigt was probably the greatest Strauss soprano of the 20th Century but was pushed by Levine into the heaviest of Wagner roles [especially the Brunnhildes] for which she was not an appropriate voice and went beyond her actual resources thus injuring her voice at the same time she was retraining it after the weight loss. Had she stayed with Strauss and the Jugendsopran Wagner roles [I heard her pre weight loss Sieglinde and it was magnificent] it is likely her voice would not have suffered such deterioration.
You're probably right!
I heard her right after the announcement of her surgery at the MET doing this and I felt she held back a little. That was a couple of years ago. How is she now?
Und Debbie ist wirklich gut hier..
What year was this please?
i miss her voice "fat"
lol yeah your right!!!!!
Not anymore- she looks great now but there is s some debate about whether or not it has effected her voice.
Leone Magieira
Lots of comments below about her weight issues. I just read her autobio, and she herself admits that it was difficult to be persuasive on stage in certain roles if she was 330 lbs. Fabulous voice or not, it's incredibly distracting when a stage presence is that huge... not to mention her own health. I just watched some interviews from a few years back in which she is a practical and candid woman. Seems like a major force in opera.
anyone know when this performance was?
1994 ''Pavarotti and Friends,'' Lincoln Center, NYC
one of the best amelia....and now she's not so fat!:)
Funny, I just realized she sounds a bit like Tomowa-Sintow...
+Pe Callahan So is Voigt.
***** You just answered your question.
***** Calm your panties, I wasn't referring to quality of the singing. Deborah Voigt is still singing opera, and you've listed three already. Tomowa-Sintow should resign. Leave her great days behind her and all of that.
***** She has a website, and you can check for yourself. Salome, Elektra, Brunnhilde, etc. are not operetta roles.
***** www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/17/deborah-voigt-soprano-book-call-me-debbie-addiction
deborahvoigt.com/past-engagements/
www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/arts/music/walkure-opera-review.html?_r=0
she sounds so fantastic here...she sounds nothing like this now
Anyone who doesn't think the weight lost had anything to do with it should go back and listen to Callas post weight loss. Furthermore, Voigt's weight loss was done with surgery and history has shown that abdominal surgeries wreak havoc with the support system. Add to that the tummy tuck...
***** Yes her voice had lost some of it's luster. Like Callas, Deborah Voigt had many other factors that led to the decline of her voice. That does not negate the fact weight loss, or rather, the invasive surgeries in Voigt's case did not majorly contribute to her decline. Remember in Callas' days they didn't do the abdominal surgeries I mentioned in my original post. Please note it's not the weight loss per se, but how the weight loss was achieved. For many people, including non singers, the surgeries Voigt went through are extreme.
This was certainly her good period for singing. She doesn't sound like this now, for sure.
She sounds phenomenal here. I saw her and Pav in Ball at the Met around 1997-98. I also sang in chorus with her in Klagende Lied at Avery Fisher in 1996. So big and brilliant!
Agreed!
Pavarotti per concludere il Do finale si nasconde sempre dietro le teste dei soprani...
I can not understand a word she is saying...so her accent does interfere with the performance.
Can it be Mr Hide ? :-) (sorry)
:))))
Voigt was a great singer. Anyone -- a n y o n e - who thinks that a singer can radically change his/her body and not suffer vocal impacts knows little to nothing about singing. To sacrifice this wonderful instrument to the whims of gay chauvinists in opera was a crime.
Pesante per la voce di Pavarotti
....alla fine era cotto....non c'è la faceva a sostenere l'ultimo acuto....
Deborah Voigt lost her vocal placement. Her weight loss had nothing to do with it.
They say it did... She was too young to lose her "vocal placement" that badly.
Her weight loss indeed contributed significantly to her vocal woes. Anytime a singer loses weight rapidly she loses something that beforehand passively gave a lot of "push" and support to the diaphragm, namely the gut. When that support is gone, the singer has to relearn how to support by very actively using the abdominal muscles. Muscle memory and habits is extremely difficult to retrain when the singer has been singing a certain way for decades. The combination of the weight loss with singing inappropriate repertory led to the decline in Debbie's voice which we hear today. Very sad to hear regardless of why it happened.
***** Furthermore, weight loss through surgery is far worse for the abdominal muscles than just the weight loss itself. She also had a tummy tuck which couldn't have been good...
***** Yes, true.
No doubt Voight is a great singer but she can't sing with Pavarotti, he speaks the Italian so clear then you can see that a International level soprano can't pronounce latin language even with the greatest training.