Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Like driving a Ferrari in a school zone., February 1, 2006
Like a lot of big operatic voices, Voigt is hard to capture on CD; her recordings of Wagner and Strauss excerpts are good, but they can't convey the experience of hearing her live in an opera house. And singing with only piano accompaniment, as here, she simply can't use most of the power in her voice. As sensitive as her performances are I can't help feeling that she's having to hold back. For American song sung with more delicacy and grace I would suggest Barbara Bonney or Dawn Upshaw (I can't agree with previous reviewers' suggestion of Cheryl Studer's Barber, though Hampson is wonderful on that set).
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar Soprano Applies Her Considerable Talent to a Lightning-Quick, All-American Repertoire, November 7, 2005
It's a shame that soprano Deborah Voigt hit her greatest notoriety last year for being fired by the Royal Opera House for being too fat for the title role of "Ariadne aux Naxos" by Richard Strauss. She subsequently lost eighty pounds but luckily none of her vocal prowess as can be heard to great effect on this intriguing collection of American songs, 25 in all and averaging a little over two minutes each. It would have seemed like a mismatch to apply her powerful voice - famous for her big Wagnerian roles - to sometimes delicate tunes. Voigt, however, confounds expectations with a surprisingly nuanced performance that showcases her interpretative skills on a diverse set of musical styles.
Similar to what countertenor David Daniels did with his 2003 disc with guitarist Craig Ogden, "A Quiet Thing", Voigt and pianist Brian Zeger have created a wide-ranging lyrical repertoire that encompasses significant vocal demands while remaining intimate in setting. In fact, both Daniels and Voigt cover Leonard Bernstein's anti-war lullaby, "So Pretty", with haunting aplomb. She also manages to dance effectively over the "Da-ga-da-ga-dums" of Bernstein's challenging "Piccola serenata". Voigt does wonders with the opening Charles Ives selections by not overplaying the innate sentiment of the tunes, in particular, soaring with the highly dramatic "The Children's Hour" by Longfellow and even covering the churchy warhorse, "At the River", with conviction.
There are eight highly individualistic songs by Ben Moore that stretch Voigt with bountiful results. The standouts of the Moore set are the English sea chantey-like "The Ivy-Wife" by Thomas Hardy, the lushly romantic "I Am in Need of Music" by Elizabeth Bishop; the sweeping "Darkling, I Listen" by John Keats; and the discordant waltz, "Bright Cap and Streamers", by James Joyce. For me, the highpoints of the recording are the last two sets by Charles Tomlinson Griffes and Amy Beach, both of whom tap impressively into Voigt's natural theatricality proven especially by her performances of Griffes's lush "Cleopatra to the Asp" and Bishop's rolling "I Send My Heart Up to Thee".
The one shortcoming of the recording overall is that the briefness of the songs does not really capitalize on Voigt's impressive dramatic capabilities in showcasing changes in characters she would have been allowed in her opera roles. For all the limitations it represents, this is a genuine recital album, and truly transcendent moments are fleeting at best especially given the variety of moods that need to be expressed in lightning-flash strokes. However, taken for the genre it represents, this is a stellar recording to appreciate a singer who is able to do more than Wagner and lose weight.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed results, February 21, 2006
This is an interesting collection of American songs, but I don't feel that Ms Voigt sold these selections to me. She still sounds like an opera singer trying to squeeze a very powerful and large voice into smaller setting for these songs, with mixed success. She is much, much better than many of her fellow sopranos that tried such repertoire, but I feel that she only gets it right in Amy Beach and Griffes songs. And even there, she does not have a sound that would make every song recital fan happy.
And what's with the title of this album? I think she is a classy artist and deserves better than such silly title, her label probably came up with that.
Nice try overall, but I hope Ms Voigt will do more Strauss and Wagner from now on, not more songs like these.
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by Covent Garden/Antonio Pappano Placido Domingo/Deborah Voigt/Violetta Urmana/Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House
