Celebrity Gastric Bypass: Deborah Voigt
That’s exactly what 44 year old acclaimed soprano Deborah Voigt did. Voigt, who has battled her weight since she was a teenager, began considering gastric bypass surgery when she noticed a weakness in her knees. She was also worried about the real risks of developing hypertension and/or diabetes.
But it may have been the dismissal from a Covent Garden production in 2004 that prompted her to take action. She was vocal about her suspicions of being dropped because of the size of her hips. Voigt is a dramatic soprano who has long been a favorite among Opera enthusiasts, singing Wagner, Verdi and Strauss. Fans were quite sympathetic to her plight when she expressed her frustration at being dismissed due to her failure to fit into a particular dress.
Ironically, it’s still unlikely that the dress fits her. Now it is probably far too large. The diva has gone from a size 30 to a size 14. The photos at www.deborahvoigt.com show off the performer’s slimming waistline and more defined cheekbones.
Gastric bypass surgery is only performed on the morbidly obese. It is a life-threatening procedure with high risk of infection following surgery. According to Lenox Hill Hospital, where Ms. Voigt had the surgery, the procedure “reduces the size of the stomach and reroutes food to the intestines. As a result patients eat less, feel full faster, and absorb fewer calories.” And in Ms. Voigt’s words, “You will comply. Because if you don’t, you’re going to be very, very ill.”
While the risks of gastric bypass surgery are very real and rather daunting, the risks to her life were not the only ones Voigt had to take into consideration. Opera singers who undergo dramatic weight loss often suffer in vocal performance. Happily, this has not been the case with Voigt. She reports having an easier time of breathing and moving. She does have to think about her technique more, as she reported to the New York Times. But overall she sees it as “a blessing.”
Ms. Voigt was born in Illinois but grew up in California. She participated in all the available choirs in high school and was President of the Thespian Club. After high school she worked as a computer operator for two years then enrolled in a university where she met Jane Paul, her voice teacher. In 1991, according to Times Online, Voigt had her “operatic breakthrough” in a Boston production of Ariadne auf Naxos. (ironically, the same opera production from which she was excused by Covent Garden.) A year later she sang at the Met in New York. From that time until now she has built her repertoire and her reputation as one of the “world’s leading dramatic sopranos,” as the New York Observer called her. She now calls Florida home and spends her time there with her dog, a terrier named Steinway, when not off performing.
According to the critics, she continues to dominate the stage with her powerful presence of voice.
Her smaller size, though, has not gone unnoticed as witnessed by this statement by Jochen Breiholz of Andante.com, “Her portrayal was so skillful, her singing so gorgeous, that it was hard to believe she had never performed the role before. (And she looked marvelous, too.)”
