{{short description|Musician and opera singer}} {{Infobox person | name = Deborah Sasson | image = 2014 BR Sternstunden Gala - Deborah Sasson by 2eight DSC9805.jpg | alt = | caption = Sasson at the Sternstunden Gala of BR, 2014 | birth_name = Deborah Ann O'Brien | birth_date = | birth_place = Boston, U.S. | occupation = {{ubl| operatic soprano | musical actress | composer }} | education = {{ubl| Oberlin College | New England Conservatory of Music }} | organization = }} '''Deborah Sasson''' née '''Deborah Ann O'Brien''' is an American operatic soprano, musical theatre actress and composer, mostly active in Germany. She graduated Millis High School. She worked also in pop music. She was Miss Massachusetts and a runner up in Miss America the same year.
== Life and career == Deborah Ann O'Brien was born in Boston.<ref name="GSL" /><ref name="Novotny" /> As a teenager she sang in a high school band. After high school,<ref> millis, ma yearbook.</ref> she studied classical singing at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio with Ellen Repp and Helen Hodam; she studied further at the New England Conservatory of Music with Gladys Miller, graduating as a Master of Music.<ref name="GSL" /> She began as a concert singer. She was a finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.<ref name="GSL" /> She made her debut on Broadway in ''Show Boat''.<ref name="Fritsch" /> Leonard Bernstein saw her performance and cast her in the role of Maria in a production of his ''West Side Story'' at the Hamburg State Opera<ref name="Rheinpfalz" /> which started her career in Germany.<ref name="GSL" />
She was a member of the ensemble of the Theater Aachen from 1979 to 1982, and appeared as a guest at the am Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Fenice in Venice and the San Francisco Opera. Her roles included Mozart's Despina in ''Così fan tutte'' and Zerlina in ''Don Giovanni'', Donizetti's Norina in ''Don Pasquale'' and Adina ''L'elisir d'amore'', Rossini's Rosina in ''The Barber of Seville'' and Verdi's Gilda in ''Rigoletto''.<ref name="GSL" />
Sasson appeared at the Bayreuth Festival as a Flower Maiden in ''Parsifal'' first in 1982, alongside Peter Hofmann in the title role who was to become her husband.<ref name="GSL" /> She performed the role until 1989.<ref name="GSL" /> She recorded with Hofmann a duet version of ''Scarborough Fair'' as part of her album ''Rock Classics''.<ref name="v271">{{citation | last1=Hofmann | first1=Peter | last2=Sasson | first2=Deborah | last3=Cress | first3=Curt | last4=Petereit | first4=Dieter | last5=Tuxen | first5=Nils | last6=Heck | first6=Roland | author7=Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchester | title=Rock classics [1] | year=1984 | oclc=1183498012 | language=de | page=}}</ref>
Sasson later turned to musical theatre again and popular music,<ref name="GSL" /> and from 1988 has worked in pop music. She has released album such as ''(Carmen) Danger in Her Eyes'' and ''Passion and Pain'' that achieved chart placements.<ref name="hitparade" /> She wrote in 2010, together with Jochen Sautter, a musical ''Das Phantom der Oper''<ref name="Hordych" /> and appeared in the role of Christine, touring in Germany for several years.<ref name="Sächsische" /> Again with Sautter, she wrote a musical ''Der kleine Prinz'', based on ''Le Petit Prince'', in 2015, which was performed at theatres in Germany and Switzerland.<ref name="Hug" /><ref name="Hordych" />
=== Personal life === She was first married to the conductor Michel Sasson.<ref name="Eichtler" /> She was married to the tenor Peter Hofmann from 1983 to 1990.<ref name="GSL" />
Sasson gives solo concerts with her own ensemble;<ref name="e529">{{cite web | title=Festliche Weihnacht mit Weltstar Deborah Sasson | website=Startseite leipzig.de | url=https://www.leipzig.de/freizeit-kultur-und-tourismus/veranstaltungen-und-termine/eventsingle/event/festliche-weihnacht-mit-weltstar-deborah-sasson | language=de | access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref> she performed in a duo programme with the opera singer Gunther Emmerlich.<ref name="d003">{{citation | last1=Mendelssohn Bartholdy | first1=Felix | last2=Schumann | first2=Robert | last3=Brahms | first3=Johannes | last4=Dvořák | first4=Antonín | last5=Cornelius | first5=Peter | last6=Bruch | first6=Max | last7=Rossini | first7=Gioachino | last8=Sasson | first8=Deborah | last9=Emmerlich | first9=Gunther | last10=Bender | first10=Klaus | title=Ein Fall für Zwei Deborah Sasson & Gunther Emmerlich; mit den schönsten Duetten und heiteren Texten der Liebe auf der Spur | publisher=Sächsische Künstleragentur | publication-place=Dresden | year=2002 | oclc=314005647 | language=de | page=}}</ref><ref name="e190">{{cite web | last=Gröger | first=René | title=Nachruf: Sänger Gunther Emmerlich gestorben | website=BR-KLASSIK | date=20 December 2023 | url=https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/saenger-gunther-emmerlich-gestorben-nachruf-wuerdigung-oper-100.html | language=de | access-date=19 October 2024 | archive-date=19 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119174743/https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/saenger-gunther-emmerlich-gestorben-nachruf-wuerdigung-oper-100.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
== Recordings == Sasson appeared in a recording of Mahler's Eighth Symphony from the Tanglewood Music Festival,<ref name="Novotny" /> conducted by Seiji Ozawa in 1980.<ref name="Boston" />
== References == <references>
<ref name="Eichtler">{{cite news | last = Eichtler | first = Jeremy | url = http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/09/michel-sasson-bso-violinist-cofounded-newton-symphony-was-music-director-boston-ballet/5QIh5hGLM7dmc9kJN0ZqEI/story.html | title = Michel Sasson, 77; BSO violinist cofounded Newton Symphony | newspaper = Boston Globe | date = 26 March 2013 | access-date = 13 April 2019 | archive-date = 13 April 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190413190131/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/09/michel-sasson-bso-violinist-cofounded-newton-symphony-was-music-director-boston-ballet/5QIh5hGLM7dmc9kJN0ZqEI/story.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="Fritsch">{{cite web | last=Fritsch | first=Werner | title=Das etwas andere Phantom: Deborah Sasson über ihre Version des Musicals | website=HNA.de | date=7 January 2014 | url=https://www.hna.de/kultur/etwas-andere-phantom-3301484.html | language=de | access-date=17 October 2024 | archive-date=27 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427134444/http://www.hna.de/kultur/etwas-andere-phantom-3301484.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Hordych">{{cite web | first=Barbara | last=Hordych | title=Sein eigener Herr | website=Süddeutsche.de | date=4 January 2018 | url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/musical-sein-eigener-herr-1.3814551 | language=de | access-date=19 October 2024 | archive-date=14 January 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114055853/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/musical-sein-eigener-herr-1.3814551 | url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Hug">{{cite web | last = Hug | first = Michael | url = https://onlinemerker.com/basel-musical-theater-der-kleine-prinz-von-deborah-sasson-und-jochen-sautter/ | title = Basel: Musical-Theater Basel – Deborah Sasson/Jochen Sautter "Der kleine Prinz" | work = Online Merker | date = 15 January 2016 | language = de | access-date = 17 October 2024 | archive-date = 17 May 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220517103907/https://onlinemerker.com/basel-musical-theater-der-kleine-prinz-von-deborah-sasson-und-jochen-sautter/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="Novotny">{{cite web | last = Nowotny | first = Walter | url = https://onlinemerker.com/geburtstage-im-august-2023/ | title = Geburtstag im August 2023 / 11.8. Deboral Sasson wird 65 | work = Online Merker | date = 1 August 2023 | language = de | access-date = 17 October 2024 | archive-date = 2 October 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231002104557/https://onlinemerker.com/geburtstage-im-august-2023/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="Boston">{{cite web | url = https://www.bso.org/works/mahler-symphony-no-8 | title = Symphony No. 8 | work = Boston Symphony Orchestra | date = 1999 | access-date = 17 October 2024 }}</ref>
<ref name="GSL">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Großes Sängerlexikon, Third Edition|entry=Sasson, Deborah|first1= K. J.|last1= Kutsch|author-link1=Karl-Josef Kutsch | first2= Leo|last2= Riemens|author-link2=Leo Riemens|year=1999|volume=IV, Moffo–Seidel|publisher=K. G. Saur Verlag}}</ref>
<ref name="hitparade">{{cite web | url = http://hitparade.ch/artist/Deborah_Sasson#charts | title = Deborah Sasson | website = hitparade.ch | date = | language = de | access-date = 17 October 2024 | archive-date = 26 April 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230426054011/https://hitparade.ch/artist/Deborah_Sasson#charts | url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="Rheinpfalz">{{cite web | title=Deborah Sasson und Kant-Chöre stimmen auf Weihnachten ein | website=Die Rheinpfalz | date=27 November 2023 | url=https://www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/pirmasens_artikel%2C-deborah-sasson-und-kant-ch%C3%B6re-stimmen-auf-weihnachten-ein-_arid%2C5582694.html | language=de | access-date=19 October 2024 | archive-date=2 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302095037/https://www.rheinpfalz.de/lokal/pirmasens_artikel,-deborah-sasson-und-kant-ch%C3%B6re-stimmen-auf-weihnachten-ein-_arid,5582694.html | url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Sächsische">{{cite news | url = https://www.saechsische.de/das-phantom-der-oper-57.html | title = Das Phantom der Oper | newspaper = Sächsische Zeitung | date = 22 October 2018 | language = de | access-date = 17 October 2024 | archive-date = 14 April 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190414073530/https://www.saechsische.de/das-phantom-der-oper-57.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
</references>
== External links == * {{official|http://www.sasson.de/}} * {{discogs artist}} * {{IMDb name|1842266}} * [https://www.derkleineprinz.eu Der kleine Prinz] {{in lang|de}} * [https://www.phantomderoper.com/ Phantom der Oper] {{in lang|de}} * [https://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/fsdb/mitwirkende/deborah-sasson/ Bio of Deborah Sasson] {{in lang|de}} at the Bayreuth Festival website; re-publication of the entry in ''Großes Sängerlexikon, Third Edition'' (1999)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sasson, Deborah}} Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Boston Category:German musical theatre actresses Category:American operatic sopranos Category:American women pop singers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century American women