Prima Donnas: Deborah Voigt and Rufus Wainwright take on Aspen

Deborah Voigt and Rufus Wainwright will be appearing together at this year's Aspen Music Festival.

Voigt will make two appearances in collaboration with Wainwright who, according to the press release, has been named “the greatest songwriter on the planet” by Elton John. She will guest with the Grammy-nominated singer at a special event The Best of Rufus Wainwright – “an intimate evening of his personal favorites” – on 24 July. Then on 30 July she will give a recital called The Beautiful Voice during which she'll sing arias from his first opera which débuted in 2009, Prima Donna, as well as e scenes from Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.

This will be the first time in my career that I will be able to sing the operatic repertoire of a living composer. Not to mention the opportunity to appear in concert with that composer.

says Voigt, adding,

The question is, who will be the bigger prima donna, Rufus Wainwright or Deborah Voigt?

Hmmm. She also quipped that one thing was certain, that she is “sure to have the better gown”… knowing Mr Wainwright, I wouldn't be too sure!

On the afternoon of 22 July Voight will also give a  masterclass, and here she will undoubtedly be the prima donna assoluta!

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.