Opera singer dropped because of big hips

The Royal Opera House in London has dropped American star soprano Deborah Voigt from its programme because of her size, a spokesman for the prestigious theatre said yesterday.

Voigt had been scheduled to play the lead in a summer production of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos but casting director Peter Katona decided that a slimmer singer would be better for the part, spokesman Christopher Millard said.

Katona had selected a black evening dress for the part and believed Voigt would not look right in the frock, Millard said.

"I have big hips and Covent Garden has a problem with them," Voigt was quoted as saying in the Sunday Telegraph.