Customer Reviews

Deborah Voigt: Obsessions (Wagner & Strauss: Arias and Scenes)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

After I posted my initial, lukewarm review of this album (titled "Lovely, but Not Thrilling"), I noticed the large number of rave reviews this recital was receiving, both on this site and in the press. So, knowing that a first hearing usually can be deceptive, particularly if one brings pre-conceived expectations to it, I decided to give this recital a second chance.
And, in retrospect, I think my first review was dead wrong. I went in expecting to hear another Nilsson, without respecting Voigt's own, considerable talents. Sweeping these foolish fancies aside, and upon hearing it a second time, I revelled in Voigt's glorious voice. This recital is truly an experience, especially for the Wagner and Strauss lover, and Voigt sounds exquisite in almost every selection.
I was won over by Voigt's majestic Empress and pristine Chrysothemis the first time around, but on the second hearing I "fell" for her magnificent Liebestod and her truly moving Sieglinde. This, truly, is an album to treasure, and I apologize to any of Voigt's fans for my initial reaction to it. Heartily recommended, a great example of contemporary Wagner and Strauss singing.

In general, Wagner and Strauss do not do well as excerpts. Arias plucked from the operas do not fare well in recording studios the way arias and duets from Puccini or Verdi operas can stand alone. This is probably why good studio recordings of Wagner and Strauss operas are rare. Both composers wrote beautiful music, but more often than not it lacks something when taken out of context. Perhaps this is why Deborah Voight's new recording OBSESSIONS is a rare find.

Voight sings arias from three Wagner operas: TANNHAUSER, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, and DIE WALKURE and four Strauss operas :ELEKTRA, DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, SALOME, and ARIADNE auf NAXOS. For Wagner, we see Voight's vocal power and beauty. Fir Strauss, we see Voight's ability for dramatic intensity. In each aria, Voight's beautiful voice is evident, but this is hardly a recital album. Voight does not merely sing as is so often the case in a recording of excerpts. In each aria, she gives the arias individual attention and listeners realize that different characters are telling a story in each aria.

I decided to purchase this recording after listening to Voight sing Elizabeth's aria "Dich tuere Halle" from TANNHAUSER. So many sopranos have attempted this aria, many of whom have never performed the role on stage and more often than not butcher it. Voight handles the aria with ease and beauty and it is an invitation to the rest of the recording. I will have to admit I found her Liebestod from TRISTAN UND ISOLDE intoxicating. I will not go so far as to say it is the best recording of the work, but it may be the best contemporary recording of the work.

Serious Wagner and Strauss listeners may wonder if a recording called OBSESSIONS with a rather prima donna like Voight on the cover is nothing more than fluff. Well, this is a rather good recording and there is substance behind the glitz.

This review appears at OperaOnline.us.
Whatever other controversy might have swirled around Deborah Voight the past few months, on this point there can be no doubt: her latest CD, "Obsessions: Arias and Scenes" is a triumph of sheer technical expertise and power both with regard to orchestration and the magnificent voice of this inimitable singer. It is impossible to listen to this selection of wonderful songs and not be in awe of the clarity, the depth, the control and emotions that go into each presentation. Voight's voice catapults one right into soprano heaven as title after title she delivers a bravura performance that lifts, soothes, and moves the listener along a journey she takes us through as she sings some of Wagner and Strauss' finest operatic moments. What strikes me most about this CD is the clarity of performance, throughout, and the eloquence that marks this soprano's range as she delivers with such obvious dedication - and this is coming from someone who places a high value on a CDs consistent mood. I don't like interruption once a mood is set. Here, the mood from the start is grand. Not grand in the sense that "isn't this wonderful", but grand in the sense of GRAND opera. When you listen Voight's Obsessions you know you are listening to something very special and to be treasured. This CD, I will treasure and listen to often. I recommend it. You won't be disappointed.

I posted this two days ago but let's try again:
This is truly a feast for lovers of the dramatic repetory and musical intelligence. Voigt is a true dramatic soprano. She combines the womanliness of Flagstad with the incisiveness of Nilsson and outdoes both of her predecessors in terms of sheer vocal flexibility and range. Voigt's voice is even from top to bottom: a chilling low range, a golden middle, and piercing highs (instead of the shrillness that we associate with most of today's "dramatic sopranos". But for me, the joy of this disc is in Voigt's interpretations. Isolde's rage will scorch your speakers. Ariadne's "burdensome life" will weigh deep within your soul (the rubato shift in the final "lastende" is marvelous as is the little flourish on the final "mir an dir"). Sieglinde radiates with the excitement of true love. We're in an era in which "opera fans" confuse overracting with interpretation. Voigt's choices are always musical, always intelligent. It's refreshing to hear a singer uses rubato, dimuendo, etc. instead of a shriek here and a sob there. I pray that EMI will grant Voigt and her fans another opera arias disc in addition to the planned B'way and recital discs.

I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this list of online reviews. I picked up the CD having an extensive listening background, and being a singer myself, but with little experience with the Wagner repertoire as a whole. Voigt's voice is a revelation. Even in a repertoire designed to have a more declamatory and less lyric delivery, she is able to give an account of true vocal mastery that is on par with any of the other great singers of our time. The fact is that no singer is able to be perfectly consistent in all those things that make up good singing. Those who sound that way on recording owe much to sound engineers. If Voigt's interpretations lack the intense abandon of other great artists, such as Waltraud Meier who's Mild und leise is a sheer force of nature, she easily surpasses these in technical mastery. She finds an easy balance between interpretation and vocal control that can only be applauded.

Her voice recalls the glory of Eileen Farrell, a soprano whose repertoire spanned the vast range of dramatic roles rather than simply the Wagner canon. While, I'm a fan of Eaglan, whose voice has always suffered from issues of support, Voigt is the pre-eminant true dramatic around. Her Isolde, which is a relatively new role for her, will surely become truly splendid in the years to come, and she will be remembered for the power and scope of her vocal prowess.

It is a fond wish of mine to some day soon see a recording of her singing those Italian dramatic roles that she is familiar with, along with the great roles of the Verdi repertoire, such as Don Carlos, Trovatore, Forza del Destino and MacBeth.

Unfortunately, some nutcase is posting multiple negative reviews of this recital disc on Amazon US but I see that for some reason no-one has reviewed it on Amazon UK - so I shall simply say, as a Brit reviewer, that this is a worthy sampling of one of the finest, most powerful, beautiful and expressive voices around today; certainly the best Wagnerian and Straussian voice, as this disc amply demonstrates. It's always possible to carp but I prefer to point out some of the best features of Voigt's singing; the rage and scorn she musters in Isolde's narration, contrasted with the poignancy of that key moment: "Er sah mir in die Augen" (when Tristan's wretchedness causes her to drop the sword with which she is about revenge herself for Morold's death). She has just the right sweep and majesty for the big Strauss heroines and the conclusion of "Salome", which also concludes the recital, is a tour de force of nuanced, chillingly characterised singing. Given her new physique, perhaps Miss Voigt will sing this role more often on stage? I always admire the sound of the Symphonieorchester des Bayersichen Rundfunks and Armstrong conducts sensitively. There is much to enjoy in this recital and Voigt displays her versatility by ranging successfully through seven different roles. Her Sieglinde is especially dramatic and touching; she achieves just the right sense of vulnerability and ecstasy - and the voice is unfailingly, gleamingly beautiful - the odd slight scoop and occasionally slightly less full top note notwithstanding. She's a real artist and we are lucky to have her in an age when there are, as ever, too few great dramatic sopranos.

When I first heard this CD, I didn't think much of Deborah Voigt since I had heard her during her earlier days singing Mathilde in Rossini's Gugliemo Tell with the conductor Evelino Pido. Her timbre at that time was so creamy and rich and beautiful, and as I heard her over the years, I noticed that the qualities that made her such a promising singer in that Tell were not present in this recording. I also heard her do some Verdi roles in the Met, parts that were obviously not suited to her cooler, Germanic sound. A few days ago, after listening to a broadcast of her spectacular Salome from Chicago last fall and her recent Agyptische Helena from the Met, I have to say that I have never been more amazed by this soprano.

Of course, Voigt is no Nilsson, but who else was? I don't think Inge Borkh, Gwyneth Jones, Ursula Schröder-Feinen, Leonie Rysanek, or Hildegard Behrens ever equalled the great Swede in terms of power and focus, and neither will Voigt. But what Voigt has that Nilsson does not is a warmth and a grain to her voice, making Voigt's portrayals of her heroines sound more human than godlike compared to the stentorian Brünnhilde. Voigt's Sieglinde, Ariadne, Elisabeth, Isolde, Salome, Kaiserin, and Chrysothemis are all magnificent characterizations with a human, womanly touch to them. This recital allows the listener to hear showpieces that reflect her talent as a German dramatic soprano, and the listener is immediately drawn by the care to which Voigt lavishes on these selections. Dich Teure Halle is sung with the bright, happy, pure sound one associates with Elisabeth, and if it not a personalized portrayal of the heroine, it certainly is a perfectly sung one. Of the two selections from Die Walküre, Der Männer Sippe is sung with urgent drive, showing us once again that Deborah is the best Sieglinde of our day. She sings Du Bist der Lenz with rapture and beauty, and one would have hoped that she could have partnered Ben Heppner or Domingo to finish the remainder of Act I in this CD. The selections from Tristan are sung with vocal opulence that reminds us how Voigt is quickly becoming one of the best Isoldes today. The Narration from Act I is sung like a powerhouse of rage and sarcasm, and the Liebestod is perfectly sung, albeit lacking that sense of apotheosis that characterized Nilsson and Flagstad in their singing of the part. Although these excerpts were Voigt's starting forays into Isolde, she already shows security and intelligence in this cornerstone of the dramatic soprano repertoire.

The next half of the recital shows Voigt's talents in the Straussian roles where her voice is put to its best use. Unlike the Wagner selections, these Straussian excerpts don't seem to lend as well to cutting, but they nonetheless give the listener an idea of Voigt's mastery of the Straussian idiom. Her large, creamy, grainy voice is ideal for Chrysothemis, and I have never heard Ariadne sung better in these recent years. Voigt is easily the equal of Rysanek as the empress, the steely sheen of her voice perfect for the luminscent character of the Kaiserin. She closes the recital with the final scene from Salome, a selection that shows Voigt's exploration of another dramatic role that she assumed to great acclaim last fall in Chicago. All in all, a great recital, and one would only hope that she had been partnered by a more sensitive conductor like Christian Thielemann.

Generally, I dislike the "new crop" of singers. It's rare, if ever, that I find a singer that can rival the singers of the Golden era. On this album, however, Deborah Voigt does exactly that. This album is a perfect showpiece for how absolutely SOLID the voice is from absolute tip-top to the very depths of her chest voice. In the rarely performed excerpts from Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Voigt tackles the extremely high tessitura effortlessly, pouring forth walls of sound. The rest of the album, from Es Gibt Ein Reich to Du bist der Lenz, follows in the same vein. The tone is always golden, gorgeous, and shining. The top has just enough metal in it to ride the orchestra, but not overly much.

The listener certainly gets the distinct impression that Madame Voigt could sing like this for an eternity, and heaven knows I wanted her to! She wields her voice like a spear; shining and golden. There is a homogenous quality to the voice that is unrivalled by most of her contemporaries. Deborah Voigt sings like a force of nature; I got the impression that she could even overpower the orchestra, if she so chose. That type of singing, uneffected and gorgeous, is certainly exciting no matter what the case.

Not since Birgit Nilsson have I heard such a huge, solid instrument. Certainly Nilsson has some advantages over Voigt; namely experience. If Voigt keeps heading in the inimitable direction she is making for herself, she is destined to be one of the very greatest sopranos of this century.

Brava Madame Voigt!

Thank God that the CD cover for Obsessions isn't any indication of what is on the disc. Deborah Voight is absolutely ravishing on this recording. Her sensous and gloriously sung Sieglinde rivals, if not surpasses, both Regine Crespin and Leonie Rysanek. The CD opens with a Dich, Teure Halle that will lift you out of your seat with its shear rapture. Having already been completely won over by the five Wagner tracks, I had no idea that the best was yet to come with Strauss singing that would make Birgit Nilsson proud. Her Es Gibt Ein Reich from Ariadne is sure to become a classic. The disc ends with the closing scene from Salome with a series of rich, soaring tones that made me want to joyously dance around with seven veils. Now if I could just do something about the CD cover.

I usually don't review things but it's obvious that someone who hates Voigt is posting multiple negative reviews. The same weirdo did this on Barnes and Noble and was removed. This is truly one of the best recitals for a dramatic soprano ever. The closest comparison is Flagstad and Voigt's top is more secure. I love how people go on about Flagstad when they've never heard her live or in a modern studio recording and have no idea about recording techniques in the 30s and 40s. Flagstad earned her legendary status but her top was NEVER all that secure. Her glory was her middle voice. Voigt is the rare soprano who has it all: a truly great voice and the ability to create vivid characterizations. Her Isolde is every inch an enraged princess. Her Kaiserin is otherworldly. Salome is truly terrifying.
Ignore the naysayers. These same people will be worshipping Voigt years from now. Revel in this great artist while we still have her.