Deborah Voigt on Good Morning America

[coolmamac]

She is now quite slender.

[hazelssister]

A lot of opera singers are either big  and or tall and have very broad shoulders and huge bustlines. That is part of the reason they are able to sing that loud and that long . joan sutherland has a huge jaw and she is also big and tall . In some ways they are lucky to be built this way !

[JennyzaS]

FUCK THE COVENT GARDEN!!!!!

[nobodyimportant09]

Pardon me, but opera is not only singing. It is singing and performance. In opera, i do want to hear great singing, AND see plausible-looking singer, and some decent acting - and these requirements are NOT mutually exclusive. Over the years, most amazing singers invalidated the notion that you must be fat to sound well. And if you can't keep your weight within reason - sing concerts.

[amfortas1978]

well, sorry to say, but losing weight has changed her voice.... I listened to her in roh, was not as good :( and then her tosca was cancelled due to voice illness.

[Argentynegal]

One thing can be said in favor of her losing weight, she will be healthier and her chances of landing roles will increase. I can't wait to see her as Brunhilde in May. Maybe we will all grudgingly thank Convent Garden in the future for this, so Deborah can continue singing far longer than she would have been able to if she had kept on her weight. It's best to look at the bright side of things.

[verbleman]

Deborah Voigt is my step aunt!

[Shanniquitie]

obsession with skinny boy looking girls = gay man's ideal

[clkallay]

@Shanniquitie Don't blame gay men for this - they are not of one opinion; neither have they all made their names in fashion. Without the consumers, even designers would alter their vision.

[Brahmsfourth]

Does Diane Sawyer have a clue, or care, about what Ms. Voigt is talking about when she comments on Tristan und Isolde? Opera has arias not "songs". All that matters to popular TV shows is shallow controversy and celebrity gossip. Voigt is a stunningly talented singer who has a lot of insight about opera, and she should not be interviewed simply to talk about her weight.

[clkallay]

@Brahmsfourth An "aria" is a "song". People don't need to feel demeaned because they don't know the difference. If opera is ever going to rise out of its aging club we have to be more welcoming of any who show interest, even if they come into the discussion obliquely. People taste, see, feel differently from one another, but it's hard for me not to pity the person whose breathing has never stopped with the hearing a beautiful rendition of even one of these great old operatic songs.

[clarksc1988]

1:15 what did she ever do with Pav? Lord knows he wouldn't delve into the German rep.

[JoshuaMazur]

@clarksc1988

Aida.

[seattleoperaguy]

@clarksc1988

Aida and Ballo in Maschera

[MultiMeli123]

I love deborah! Who cares if she heavy! What pigs to feel woman have to fit a stero type of skinny, blonde,& beautiful! I LOVE YOU DEBROAH thick or thin! You're still beautiful especially your voice! I watched my friend die with anorexia,,,,,don't let them do this too you!!!!!!!!!!

[Jellyboby]

OH my gosh! voigt got fired for being too bony?

that's like getting not being able to make money because your diet is too big,

this world need new opera dicterors who are bony

[browncello]

Fucking opera directors! God, give me an army!!

[mtenor]

these bastard directors are ruining opera most of them know nothing about singing . If they think acting is more important and body shape then go to a fucking play and keep out of opera!

[leonengard]

Opera's world is not my world, so I am just discovering this AMAZING singer (here on YT). I heard her Gioconda and she was thinner but I wasn't really convinced by her voice, but after I heard older videos and I was "open mouth". I learned about the shit Convent Garden did to her. Now I am REALLY DESAPOINTED with that stupid teather. Shame on them. I will never go again. I don't need to go to that teather. I hope La Bastille will never do such an stupid thing to a great artist as she is.

[raigekimaru]

she has a point, most conductors and directors have this limited view about what the opera is supposed to be like. it really doesn't allow for much creativity in interpreting the role.

PS: she's also right about size, many large voiced singers (self included) are thin too. just look at edda moser or franco corelli. sure size does matter as far as health, but the opera houses decision was quite unprofessional.

[Joeleole]

Why was the sound cut?

[Brussels1971]

She is really big. I would NEVER pay to see her!

[yodavidnavarro]

She was big! Update!

[grandmagrumpy]

I love her voice! who cares about size?

Well, there is the health issue. I'm sure doctors would prefer all their patients to be within a 'normal' weight range... however, it seems a moot point when you read the news flashing below about the insane mom who killed her 3 sons....

Weight seems a minor flaw compared to that.

[potatoface89]

who cares about size? obviously deborah herself! Since she is now like a size 8 or something

[grandmagrumpy]

I had heard that she lost a lot of weight. I never paid that much attention to her size in the first place. If she is healthy and happy, great!

[grandmagrumpy]

watch?v=459-Ykif1uk

was last year... maybe another clip will have an update.

100 lbs less.

[trishignao]

Thank God she is a wonderful singer and we all know that. Who the hell needs to sing in England. Thank God l moved to the US and get the chance to hear her when she sings in Florida.

[g4thz]

How much has changed.

[newdawnmistake]

Sorry if this has been asked but at 3:18 - why was that blanked out?

She's such a beautiful singer.  And she's definitely not ugly either!

[iriisblue]

The show producers chose to edit the tape for broadcast because the original comment that Sawyer read crassly and crudely referred to Voigt as impossible for any man to "love" because of her size.

[newdawnmistake]

@iriisblue: I see! How awful. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

[dllars6005]

I used to go to Sunday School with Deborah in middle school at a small church in Prospect Heights, IL. She was a nice kid back then, and I never imagined she'd be this fantastic opera singer as an adult. Her voice is amazing. She was a chubby kid, and a real sweetie! I am in awe of her, big or small.  Denise

[Interlingua]

Opera is more than just voices. It's also acting, costumes, staging, lyrics, charisma. There's flexibility in casting: singers are often cast as characters decades younger than the singers' own ages. But Voigt wasn't let go over an "obsession with thinness". The problem wasn't that Voigt isn't thin; the problem is that she's massively obese. Even if she lost 50 kg, she'd still be obese. For some roles, directors, and audiences this might not matter, but I can see her being too heavy for Isolde.

[iriisblue]

The great voice is what makes opera opera. Without it, all of the points you fetter about are mere windowdressings. If you want show over substance, I might suggest you stay home and watch American Idol.

[Interlingua]

It's always easier to make an argument with a straw man, which is what you've done. I don't fetter about anything in my post, nor do I put show over substance. I simply state the fact that opera is more than voice. Voice it certainly is, but not just that. If it were only voice, people would have no objection to going to the opera and listening while the singers performed, unseen, behind screens. But in such an opera, of course people would object. Acting, costume, staging AND voice are key.

[iriisblue]

Spoken like the original straw man. The point, which you conveniently ignore, is that Voigt was fired because a director thought she was too fat, which has nothing to do with acting, costume or staging. It's merely a discriminatory, sexist notion that you clearly support. And BTW, acting in opera? Get over yourself.

[Interlingua]

You have no idea what my stand on sexism is, and the fact that you make strong claims in this respect shows me just how ignorant you are. Never claim to speak for me or my political opinions. You are as ill-informed about opera as you are about me. You think there is no acting in opera? Just what are the depths of your stupidity?

[iriisblue]

Come, come. Parsing distinctions between your sexism and your "stand on sexism" is no less revealing than your equally transparent paradigm "obsession with thinness" and "massively obese." Me thinks thou does protest too much.

[ernestalba]

There is no such thing as too heavy for Isolde, or any Wagnerian heroine.

[iriisblue]

Voigt's points are all well articulated. She also is kind not to mention that the rotund Pavarotti was allowed to lumber around the stage for decades without anyone batting an eye. Oh, and by the way, fuck Covent Garden.

[UranusRising]

Excellent point!

[mfranck1]

OH but he's a MAN and men are socially permitted to be "rotund" whereas for women it's a sin! Absolultey sickening (our culture, that is!)

[iriisblue]

True enough. Now that American Idol has taken over opera, I'm sorry to say that vocal standards have shrunk, along with Voigt's waistline.

[iriisblue]

mfranck1 - check out Interlingua's hissy fit below.

[feczor]

FYI white people started this crap. this isnt that much of a issue in the black or latino communities.

[flon5flon]

Cara Fiordiligi!

You say not wanting to go into arguments and yet you do! You are a real Fiordiligi! I don't doubt your taste. Geschmack ist eine Geschmacksache, nicht? Your Bonnie Highland Laddie Ron. ( Yes, I liked your performance)

(Although you can forget me being Bonnie on my age!)

[Operaman41]

I do think that her voice has changed since her weight loss.

I love a FATT sound!

Eileen Farrell, Sharon Sweet!

[fiordiligicymraeg]

I listened to a few recordings of her in the year prior to her operation and I think the signs of vocal decline (if one really wants to call it that, because she's still a damn good singer) that people hear in her voice - a starting "wobble", a slightly harsher edge to the voice - were there already. She is 48 after all.

[flon5flon]

singing in opera has been highjacked for many years already by directors. The best way to hear opera now is the concertante-way. No stage at all. Just singing the music! The best operas were made in a time without electricity, radio, film tv , records video etc! No new operas after Puccini! You are not repainting Rembrandt!

[fiordiligicymraeg]

Why shouldn't there be operas after Puccini???? That has nothing to do with "repainting Rembrandt" - unless you seriously do not recognise art after Rembrandt? Which would be utterly ridiculous...I for one would not want to be without Britten, Menotti, Strauss, Previn, Berg, et al

[flon5flon]

Cara Fiordiligi!

I heard you love hamburgers at MadDonald's.

That's the way Cosi fan Tutte is produced these days.

Most opera's of the composers you mention are produced with a lot of govermental money for snobs: and when some traditional production is coming from those faraway places like Kazachstan, it is called inferior by the same snobs. Opera belonged to the people; like football, where claques of tenors used to beat up eachother (Bonci-Caruso e.g.)

[fiordiligicymraeg]

right flon5flon, I don't want to get into arguments here. Your posts make no sense - the analogy with Rembrandt was wrong, because you were (as is now clear) talking about productions, not compositions - so why say "no opera after Puccini" when you simply dislike modern productions. I also don't like the kind of productions that are disrespectful to the composer and work, but they are NOT all like that!!! Please stop generalising and especially stop making incorrect assumptions about my taste.

[hawaii8087]

As they said, aren't a lot of Opera singers heavy? And they knew her size before. What they did was so rude.

[kmostrach]

The experts say that her voice has not changed significantly since the weight loss, so whoever posted the previous message is incorrect.

[Bozzyworth]

She could have just saved her life!

[CumpariSparacino]

She was fabulous then. Now she lost the weight and sounds like crap. Long live the fat soprano. A fat soprano is a healthy soprano. Bring back Montserrat, Jesseye, and Alessandra Marc!

[flon5flon]

CumpariSparacino And never, never forget Anita Cerquetti to mention one of many!!!

[iTubeVlc]

Bla bla bla, at the end she made a heavy diet to get thinner.

[1laboheme]

What does Diane Sawyer say when it cuts out!?

[SusannaG74]

she's a beautiful woman

[musicadei]

Brava!