It's Hip Surgery for Deborah Voigt
by Paul Pelkonen
Fire woman: Deborah Voigt torches the Ring. The diva will have surgery tomorrow.
Photo by Ken Howard from Götterdämmerung © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.
Deborah Voigt has cancelled her first concerts in Australia due to necessary emergency surgery on her hip.
According to a report in Limelight Magazine, an Australian entertainment periodical, the singer has to undergo the operation as soon as possible, forcing her to cancel appearances at the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House and a concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.
The Melbourne concerts will feature soprano Angela Denoke taking over for Ms. Voigt in performances of arias by Wagner and Richard Strauss. They also mark the first podium appearances by new Melbourne Symphony Orchestra music director Sir Andrew Davis. Sir Andrew begins a four-year tenure with the ensemble starting in 2013.
A longtime fixture on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Voigt drew fire from critics and opera aficionadoes for her performances as Brunnhilde in the Met's controversial new production of Wagner's Ring Cycle. She will reprise the role in complete cycles in 2013 at the Metropolitan Opera House.
This is the latest major hurdle for the American soprano, who has risen above struggles with obesity and alcohol to become one of the world's premiere opera singers. Those struggles will be chronicled in a forthcoming memoir, tentatively titled True Confessions of a Down to Earth Diva.
In a statement, Sydney Opera House acting CEO Jonathan Bielski says: "We wish Ms. Voigt a speedy and full recovery and hope that Australian artists will have a chance to hear this exceptional artist in the near future."
For her part, Ms. Voigt seems to be in good spirits despite the setback. On her Twitter account, she posted: "Thank you all for thinking of me at this difficult time. Tomorrows the big day. Will be back on Grane very soon! Hojotoho!!!"
We here at Superconductor would like to take this opportunity to wish Ms. Voigt a safe operation and a speedy recovery, and we look forward to seeing her back onstage soon. Now about that revival of Die Ägyptische Helene....
