Royal Opera Boots Singer Voigt for Weight

[zbdent]

(Original title on Netscape news was Opera Singer Fired for Being Fat)

LONDON (AP) - The Royal Opera House in London canceled a performance by American star soprano Deborah Voigt because of her weight, a spokesman for the prestigious theater said Sunday.

Voigt had been scheduled to play the lead in a summer production of Richard Strauss' ``Ariadne on Naxos,'' but casting director Peter Katona decided that a slimmer singer would be better for the part, spokesman Christopher Millard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1404&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20040307%2F1638253666.htm&sc=1404

(my note: Guess it ain't over, cause she ain't singing . . .)

[MuseRider]

1. Love that opera!

I do not know quite how to react to this. He is the casting director and Opera is also a visual art. His vision for the production requires a characterization that she is unable to fit into because of her size. Hmmm.

[noonwitch]

2. I thought opera singers were allowed to be fat?

Not that they all are, but many are, that's where the saying "It's not over til the fat lady sings" comes from.
I thought opera was supposed to be more about the music than the acting.

[SoCalDem]

3. Her picture & bio

DEBORAH
VOIGT

American
diva-in-demand,
shown here
with
Luciano Pavarotti
Born outside of Chicago and raised in Southern California, Ms. Voigt attended Cal State in Fullerton and then participated in the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera where she made her company debut as the Celestial Voice in Verdi's Don Carlo. She first attracted world attention by winning first prizes at the Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition (1988) and other competitions. She received the coveted Richard Tucker Award in 1992. Since then she has become a leading dramatic soprano of her generation, praised for her lyricism and beauty of tone.

Her breakthrough role was Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos which she sang in a Boston production earlier in the decade - a role she soon came to own. Although German opera ( e'g', as Sieglinde in Die Walkure, Senta in The Flying Dutchman, Chrysothemis in Elektra, and Agather in Der Freischutz), makes up a great part of her repertoire, she is equally at home with Italian opera. This October (1999) she sings her first Aida at the Met and in the past has sung Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Il trovatore, La forza del destino, and Lady Macbeth, and Bellini's Norma. She is as devoted to the concert platform as she is to the operatic stage and in addition has a number of successful recordings to her name.

Ms. Voight devotes much of her free time to working with youngsters, instilling in them an appreciation of classical music. Booked solid through 2003, Deborah Voigt clearly can look forward to a bright and long career in opera.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. I think this makes the Royal Opera look foolish.

The casting director should have made that decision before casting. I suspect Katona found someone he liked better, and needed an excuse to get rid of Voigt.

I think he's a prick for doing so.