@@nickhiggsthesinger tbh her pronunciation/comprehensibility is awful; in my opinion Robin does it much better in ua-cam.com/video/KQ_3gVL5790/v-deo.html That being said, neither does he have to do the role nor to project quite that much (that recording was apparently a semi-spontaneous fun addon at a meet). The rolling of the r is more common to the bavarian-austrian speakers so he’s got it down as Mozart intended, of course.
@@nickhiggsthesinger I like Edda Moser and Anna Maria Alberghetti. Both are technicallly superior, bringing more chest into their top notes, and Alberghetti's stacatti are just more crisp and precise!
@@nickhiggsthesinger This is a quite late comment, but please react to the rendition of this same aria by Cristina Deutekom and listen to how she sings it. More quasi-wagnerian, just like Mozart intended the singer to do. Please, can you do that?
Рік тому+59
So pleasant to see young people who keep the legacy of universal culture alive. Thanks.
The "flat sixth moment" get me every time for the way Damrau's arms perfectly echo the V-shape in clouds behind her. Her power is to command the night, and the pose powerfully underscores that. Absolutely perfect, and just another of the thousands of tiny details that make this the very best staging of Zauberflote of all time. As far as "did Mozart write this for someone he hated," I can't say. But it's not unheard of. Patti LuPone once commented that Andrew Lloyd Weber must hate women, given the near-impossibility of some of the notes and phrases he makes them sing.
Acting and drama wise she is best voice for me is excellent as well. But i agree with pureffm and Deutekom is the only one who can sing it to perfection. Here acting might not what Americans like but then again they never lived under a queen and like dramatic overexpressions unlike Deutekom who lived basically all her life under a real queen and she is just like her on stage.
Wow! Her vocal chords give me goosebumps every time. I loved that you analyzed it theatrically and musically. Also thank you for your great information about the original lyrics and explaining it. I wish more people would see your videos and reels, Nick! You’re the best❤
Mozart wrote that aria for his sistere-in-law Josepha Hofer but he didn't hate her, instead he made it so difficult because he knew she could pull it off. He was right and was very impressed with her performance.
Came here looking for this compliment! Josepha apparently had NO difficulty whatsoever hitting those notes at all - although I'm certain even she had to work for it. Among the many quoted "last words" of Mozart were, "shhh...I can hear Josepha singing!".
Until my thirties i thought opera was boring and people on stage just pulling their lungs ..... but i have a good friend that invited me to Tosca, and clearly remember she said 'if you do not like Tosca you will never like opera at all. And she was right .. i LOVED IT so i have been an opera lover since then .. 1989
This performance of Diana Damrau woke my interest in opera. She is so brilliant and sinister in this scene. And what an actress. In real life she is a humble down to earth super-nice person. I am an absolute rookie when it comes to opera but I enjoy my discovery-journey.
For those who are curious about this history of this role/aria: The role of the Queen of the Night was composed especially for Josepha Weber Hofer, who was Mozart’s sister in law. At the time, she was considered to be the best coloratura soprano in Germany/Austria. She was very young at the time of the premier of the opera but her age did hinder her technical ability or status during her career.
Fun fact: on his deathbed, Mozart whispered to his wife how great Hofer was singing Queen of the Night. He died five weeks after Die Zauberflote opened to great success, so you could say he went out on a...umm... high note.
Lady Damrau is truly a queen and Maestra. Those high F's thooo wow. They must be perfectly in tune to match with the flutes/winds which are completely exposed there...wow...0_o!
I always interpreted Sarastro as being the Queen's ex and Pamina's father - she is living with her mentally ill mother, who has been gradually and steadily getting worse, and her father has been trying to figure out a way to get her out, but now this has reached a previously unimaginable level. And this production, and Damrau's singing, captures this sort of intensity and dynamic perfectly.
Very nice video! I throughly agree with everything you said. When you mentioned the work of the body to hit the high notes, I realized I never noticed that before. I had seen this aria done in "Amadeus" where the Queen of the Night was standing still. When I saw Diana moving across the stage, that blew my mind! Great video, enjoyed every moment of it!
Yeah, how it's done in the movie is what's sometimes known as "park and bark", and was quite typical for soprano arias but in recent times has fallen out of favour in order to increase options for dramatic expression which come with enabling mobility. Despite that, nobody would begrudge a performer that preferred to park and bark for this role, which only makes it so much more impressive how Damrau makes full use of the stage while singing it.
I love Diana's performance in here. Not only she does an amazing job singing, but her entire performance in the play is superb. Her facial expressions, her movements, her power. She embodies the queen of the night perfectly! She is also a German native speaker which I think it makes it better. Amazing!
Diana Damrau is a legend, she IS the Queen of the Night. I think Mozart wrote the aria for his sister-in-law, but not because he hated her, rather to showcase her abilities. BTW, imagine the impact this aria must have had at the audiences back then, we are now jaded, have seen and heard everything, but this aria comes up and we are in awe.
If I were on a desert island and could only listen to one opera aria ever again, it would be this one! And it would be this performance...fantastic! :-)
For me the most impressive vocal moment in the aria is the Triplets at 9:46 there’s a very easy trap of just scooping the notes instead of hitting each one and Diana does this moment with such perfection it’s soooo insane for me❣️❣️❣️❣️
11:50 The background colouring perfectly matches the colours of the dress (almost black ... which makes the queen seem like a "floating bust"). A very VERY well choreographed performance!
I’d kinda love a hint as to how to sing these staccati. I tried transposing the whole thing down one octave or even two octaves, so it’s not where in the range they lie but… well. Use the diaphragm… but, how at that tempo?
i always think opera singers are amazing, and then I remember that they're belting everything out on top of 100 musicians also belting everything out, and i remember they're AMAZING amazing.
I'm glad I discovered your channel, especially with this aria. Mozart was a genius. This scene is one of my favorites. The staging is superb. Diana Damrau is fantastic. Thanks for the analysis. I look forward to more.
Such a great video that really enhances and contextualizes Diana Damrau's performance. You're so enjoyable to watch and listen to! I first saw this aria in Amadeus in the 80s on VHS as a little girl and was utterly transfixed - I had never heard anything like it. It completely shaped my view of opera and classical music. In the film this scene was in the common people's theater and it would have been world class high art, especially for ordinary people. The staging was beautiful but the singer was completely static - in one place the whole scene. One thing I love about this production of The Magic Flute is the costumes; they are so interesting and beautiful - but the illusion neckline of the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting's gowns show exactly how much of the body is required to produce that kind of technically precise, projected singing. Nothing about it is static! The fact that Diana was walking and emoting is even more astonishing! Gives me an even deeper appreciation for this work even now after almost 40 years. Diana Damrau is always a joy to listen to.
I've watched a few singers perform this aria, all spectacularly well. But Damrau conquers them all in the way she inhabits the role. I think a lot of singers seem a little vague about what those staccato segments really mean; they're just trying to achieve them with perfection, and technically absolutely do. But Diana Damrau knows exactly what she means when she sings them at Pamina. She's not "laughing." A lot of reviewers/analysts talk about those sections as laughter, but not here. She's threatening. She's like the knife she wants to put in her daughter's hands, killing her hated husband. She's absolutely lethal. God, I love this performance.
It is said that on his death bed, Mozart had a flashback to that flat-6 moment. "Quiet, quiet! Hofer is just taking her top F; - now my sister-in-law is singing her second aria, 'Der Hölle Rache'; how strongly she strikes and holds the B-flat."
what thee says about singing's being a full body exercise is so true. I've always gauged how much I was working on my singing, either at a concert or a rehearsal, by how tired I was afterwards.
You are the second person that l watch, describing and explaining this aria, not very fond of commentaries like this, but the more l hear this aria, the more l enjoy it, l am utterly obsessed with this magnum spectacle, her voice is poignant, magical, strong, emphatic and intimidating, what a treasure. Great analysis, congratulations for your expertise.
An absolutely excellent choice. Diana really does it for me! Her vocal power and range is fantastic. Not only is she a brilliant opera singer but also a wonderful actress ❤ Your analysis was as I see it, spot on ❤
Further analyzing her body language, not only does she whisk away as if in a puff of smoke, but instead of storming off, her shoulders rest and she walks levelly away. She's delivered her emotionally abusive tirade and then walked away, relaxed and calm once again. Classic abusive mother. Well done.
OMG. I was looking for the Dimash videos you mentioned in reply to a comment to another vid, and see you checked out my absolute favorite performance of this aria. It’s a true, dynamic performance, which is tough to do when you have to sing something this difficult at the same time. Her stressed notes are like poisoned darts, and you can see how seasoned she is as a singer-the way she positions her body and uses her mouth, even her teeth, to help nail those high notes. You’re right that this is pretty much an unbeatable performance. I have read somewhere that Mozart wrote this for his sister-in-law, to showcase her incredible range. Some articles suggest he also didn’t like her so he wanted to put her out there onstage with a truly difficult aria that she would have to sing before an audience nightly. It actually does sound plausible since at the time it had never been done before. Would be a way to take her down a notch if she wasn’t up to it. But tangible proof? It is probably one of those apocryphal stories that we’ll never know for sure. If you’re bored one day, there’s a video of Dimash warming up for a performance onstage, and he’s just singing these staccato notes like they’re nothing.
A lot of people have said what a wonderful actress... I would go further and say: what a wonderful dancer, along with the chorus of attendants.This aria has been choreographed perfectly to marry the requirements of the singing body to the expression of regal power, intimidation, manipulation. And distill the rhythms of the piece. And even paint shapes into the set design with her magnificent costume. The whole team is here.
Sem demérito de todas as demais sopranos, que cantam e interpretam essa ária, Diana é perfeita; quase que como se a ária tivesse sido composta para ela. ❤💐👏👏👏
What makes this song so menacing is that many of the chord choices and structuring of the harmonics and diminished notes are mirrored in later classics like Night on Bald Mountain by Modeste Mussorgsky. It brings to mind the same imaginary visuals of demons, devils, and witches claiming dominion over the whirling chaos of darkness.
This is not about the music, itself...but I wish you had shown the very LAST part of this scene. The Queen and her entourage scurry to the back of the stage, then as the curtains start to close upon them, the Queen turns and faces defiantly her daughter and the audience. That SO ends the scene with an amazing climatic dramatic visual point. It is always a shame (for me) when many posters of this particular scene fail to let it run a little longer so that this genius inspired conclusion and climax can be shown and appreciated for the total unique closing and ending of this, the best adaptation and performance of this Mozart Masterpiece!! (In my opinion)
It's one thing to hit the notes but totally another to convey the character and That Diana does it so powerfully. She is definitely my favorite for this major coloratura aria 💥
What makes Diana's performance so iconic compared to so many others I've seen is the acting and intensity and drama she is able to bring WHILE hitting every single not spot on. If you didn't know a single thing about the plot of this opera or the lyrics or anything and saw this performance, you'd have a pretty bang on idea what was happening. You FEEL the hoelle Rache.
I love your tutorials! Mozart's music speaks for itself. Historians speculate, because it is what historians do. Speculation is not all bad. It was curiosity that motivated a 1979 Broadway Play, later a move (Amadeus) that reawakened an entirely new generation of interest in this remarkable, truly gifted by the Creator man.
Often overlooked is the aria preceding the Hölle Rache, the "Zittre nicht, mein Lieber Sohn", my personal favorite, where Damrau's exceptional talent of voice and acting works like a steam roller...
Diana is amazing of course, but props to the director, makep artist and scenery designer! Truly perfect! Also the ladies-in-waiting, hemming poor Pamina in. Scary
Diana is one of the only Queens who is able to convincingly act the scene AND sing it perfectly. Many of the others have to plant themselves and sing it with little movement (not a knock on them because this is a very difficult song!). But Diana is able to embody the song with intense physicality that plays with levels that match the intensity of her voice. It's outstanding! I also think the costumes for the Queen and her attendants in this Royal Opera House production are the best I've ever seen. Not too flashy or busy, but still striking and and ethereal enough to catch your eye and give off the feel of regality. Others must agree with me because I've seen these costumes emulated in other productions which goes to show their impact.
You were right on point, guessing that the first performer of the Queen of the Night's part - Josepha Hofer (nee Weber) - indeed was Mozart's family member - being a sister of his wife. However, not out of spite or with tormenting intent, and not to sabotage deliberately - by giving the part to a bad singer, but to exalt and extol his music, Mozart just used the given virtuoso skills and vocal gifts of his sister-in-law, which she demonstrated with aptitude, and not just at the higly successful premiere night - under the batton of Mozart himself, but for the next 10 years - to universal acclaim.
The part of the Queen was written by Mozart by having his sister in law Maria Josepha Hofer in mind. The part plays to the strength of her for high notes as a soprano. Mozart often had people in mind, when he wrote arias.
An additional reason that Diana Damrau can emphasized the consonants so well and make the lyrics and their meanings jump off the stage and into the audience is because German is her native language.
Definitely the finest performance of all time of this aria! (Haven't heard those before around the 1930s but suspect that none would be at this level.)
It was Mozart’s sister who first performed the Queen of the Night, whom he loved very much. The character is fictional but Empress Maria Theresa could have been one inspiration, since she wanted to stamp out Freemasonry of which Mozart was a member and this opera is loosely about.
Great review! I thought this guy was a micro managing dick, but at the 5 minute mark I understood his approach. It's technical and well informed from a professional of the art. Well done.
I have seen technically excellent performances of this aria, as good as this one, but none comes close in terms of emotional intensity. You notice that she feels and lives every single word she sings. This is a prime example for showcasing that singing opera is so much more than reproducing nice sounds.
Adelina Patti - Cristina Deutekom, Diana has better acting skills than any other coloratura soprano who sings this aria, but her technique is not appropriate at all.
I can think of at least five: Deutekom, Popp, Moser, Streich, and Sutherland. I will have to compare one of Edita Gruberova’s better efforts, but she might be in there also.
The thing I enjoyed most, beyond Diana setting the 'Gold' standard for this is precisely how it should always be sung, is the acting. The QoN is usually rather stationary if not fully stationary. She changed this and worked the stage. This became Diana Damrau in 'Die Zauberflote' by mozart and yes, little m
One thing You should bear in mind is that Damrau is a natural German speaker. Italian is an open language, which means that every syllabel ends on a vowel. German is rather the opposite where the vowel is hidden between consonants. You should note how she starts on tip-toe and has to be VERY carefull in building up the crescendo, because she will crack one of the high F's. She probably did, and pensioned herself off the role. Erika Köth once did that, and say she could not sing it, because her throat stiffend up. The other thing is, You can't set it down a notch, because then Sarastro in second Act will be in deep shit. In diesen Heil'gen Hallen goes deep - real deep. Here with Gottlob Frick: ua-cam.com/video/ryi39iYKmnk/v-deo.html One should recall that Mozart died two months after the opera opened.
Would you perhaps be interested in doing a similar reaction video to a performance of the Papageno/Papagena duet? Some of that stuff seems impossible to me to sing (how the hell do they sing pa-pa-pa-pa that fast xd?), yet opera singers routinely do it with little visible difficulty.
The Great Diana really captured the spirit of the Queen of the Night, like a Hecate made flesh. Every single sound hits like enraged knife, she even have some of the gestures for a spell. The dress and hair is perfect, she only need a black ringling tatoo on her left side of the face like a farrow. That would have been more sinister and more in conform with tradition of ancient times.
I hope you enjoyed this video! What should I react to next? Let me know in the comments ⬇
Watch amadeus and you will understand a loot about mozart and salieri and his music its a 3 hours film
Us old ladies? My mom is German and I grew up on this stuff. I didn’t like it as a teenager but I went to my first opera at 29
i mean, where to start, nick? casta diva?
Diana Damrau really capture the spirit of the Queen of the Night. She is like Hecate made flesh. Thank you for the video.
I would love to see you react and analyze to the Commendatore scene from "Don Giovanni." The version with Samuel Ramey and Kurt Moll.
This aria is so wonderful and Diana Damrau ruled it, she owned it, she killed the game as usual! I am addicted to this :)
She is incredible!
U should listen to Patricia Petibon. She’s my all time fav❤
@@nickhiggsthesinger tbh her pronunciation/comprehensibility is awful; in my opinion Robin does it much better in ua-cam.com/video/KQ_3gVL5790/v-deo.html
That being said, neither does he have to do the role nor to project quite that much (that recording was apparently a semi-spontaneous fun addon at a meet).
The rolling of the r is more common to the bavarian-austrian speakers so he’s got it down as Mozart intended, of course.
@@nickhiggsthesinger I like Edda Moser and Anna Maria Alberghetti. Both are technicallly superior, bringing more chest into their top notes, and Alberghetti's stacatti are just more crisp and precise!
@@nickhiggsthesinger This is a quite late comment, but please react to the rendition of this same aria by Cristina Deutekom and listen to how she sings it. More quasi-wagnerian, just like Mozart intended the singer to do. Please, can you do that?
So pleasant to see young people who keep the legacy of universal culture alive. Thanks.
❤❤❤❤❤🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
The "flat sixth moment" get me every time for the way Damrau's arms perfectly echo the V-shape in clouds behind her. Her power is to command the night, and the pose powerfully underscores that. Absolutely perfect, and just another of the thousands of tiny details that make this the very best staging of Zauberflote of all time.
As far as "did Mozart write this for someone he hated," I can't say. But it's not unheard of. Patti LuPone once commented that Andrew Lloyd Weber must hate women, given the near-impossibility of some of the notes and phrases he makes them sing.
Update! ... I've just listened to a few others and can still confirm that Diana is probably the best all round! ❤
She is incredible and very well known as being one of the best to ever do it!
@@nickhiggsthesinger Deutekom and Edda Moser offer a meatier performance vocally, but Diana is acting the role to perfection.
Absolutely. The other singers do just that - sing. But they don't act. Damrau IS the queen of the night, she IS the character.
Acting and drama wise she is best voice for me is excellent as well. But i agree with pureffm and Deutekom is the only one who can sing it to perfection. Here acting might not what Americans like but then again they never lived under a queen and like dramatic overexpressions unlike Deutekom who lived basically all her life under a real queen and she is just like her on stage.
Well, the timing was questionable with the orchestra, but yeah.
Wow! Her vocal chords give me goosebumps every time. I loved that you analyzed it theatrically and musically. Also thank you for your great information about the original lyrics and explaining it. I wish more people would see your videos and reels, Nick! You’re the best❤
Thank you Sima!!
Mozart wrote that aria for his sistere-in-law Josepha Hofer but he didn't hate her, instead he made it so difficult because he knew she could pull it off. He was right and was very impressed with her performance.
Came here looking for this compliment! Josepha apparently had NO difficulty whatsoever hitting those notes at all - although I'm certain even she had to work for it. Among the many quoted "last words" of Mozart were, "shhh...I can hear Josepha singing!".
@NiiloPaasivirta, that's how I interpret the story too!
I wish I had discovered how much I like opera when I was younger and not 58.
I agree. I just discovered I loved opera at 56 yrs old. Now I am willing to travel to Europe just to see a specific opera, opera house or singer
It's never too late to appreciate and enjoy good, quality music. 😊
Until my thirties i thought opera was boring and people on stage just pulling their lungs ..... but i have a good friend that invited me to Tosca, and clearly remember she said 'if you do not like Tosca you will never like opera at all. And she was right .. i LOVED IT so i have been an opera lover since then .. 1989
I discovered opera when I was 20, La Traviata was my first introduction. Still love it.
Speaking as someone older -- please don't consider 58 old. Be grateful for your discovery!
This performance of Diana Damrau woke my interest in opera. She is so brilliant and sinister in this scene. And what an actress. In real life she is a humble down to earth super-nice person. I am an absolute rookie when it comes to opera but I enjoy my discovery-journey.
For those who are curious about this history of this role/aria:
The role of the Queen of the Night was composed especially for Josepha Weber Hofer, who was Mozart’s sister in law. At the time, she was considered to be the best coloratura soprano in Germany/Austria. She was very young at the time of the premier of the opera but her age did hinder her technical ability or status during her career.
Did or didn't?
I too would like the answer to whether her young age was a hinderance, which I suspect it was not?
What? Did or didn't?
come on, people, klass obviously meant to write "did not"--look at the "or" which would have been an "and" if he meant that hofer was hindered
Fun fact: on his deathbed, Mozart whispered to his wife how great Hofer was singing Queen of the Night. He died five weeks after Die Zauberflote opened to great success, so you could say he went out on a...umm... high note.
Lady Damrau is truly a queen and Maestra. Those high F's thooo wow. They must be perfectly in tune to match with the flutes/winds which are completely exposed there...wow...0_o!
I always interpreted Sarastro as being the Queen's ex and Pamina's father - she is living with her mentally ill mother, who has been gradually and steadily getting worse, and her father has been trying to figure out a way to get her out, but now this has reached a previously unimaginable level. And this production, and Damrau's singing, captures this sort of intensity and dynamic perfectly.
Very nice video! I throughly agree with everything you said. When you mentioned the work of the body to hit the high notes, I realized I never noticed that before. I had seen this aria done in "Amadeus" where the Queen of the Night was standing still. When I saw Diana moving across the stage, that blew my mind! Great video, enjoyed every moment of it!
Thank you so much!!!
Yeah, how it's done in the movie is what's sometimes known as "park and bark", and was quite typical for soprano arias but in recent times has fallen out of favour in order to increase options for dramatic expression which come with enabling mobility. Despite that, nobody would begrudge a performer that preferred to park and bark for this role, which only makes it so much more impressive how Damrau makes full use of the stage while singing it.
I love Diana's performance in here. Not only she does an amazing job singing, but her entire performance in the play is superb. Her facial expressions, her movements, her power. She embodies the queen of the night perfectly! She is also a German native speaker which I think it makes it better. Amazing!
Diana Damrau is a legend, she IS the Queen of the Night. I think Mozart wrote the aria for his sister-in-law, but not because he hated her, rather to showcase her abilities. BTW, imagine the impact this aria must have had at the audiences back then, we are now jaded, have seen and heard everything, but this aria comes up and we are in awe.
omg - what beauty in sound! what a voice - what an opera - what a composer ...
If I were on a desert island and could only listen to one opera aria ever again, it would be this one! And it would be this performance...fantastic! :-)
I agree
Me too. Goosebumps every single time.
For me the most impressive vocal moment in the aria is the Triplets at 9:46 there’s a very easy trap of just scooping the notes instead of hitting each one and Diana does this moment with such perfection it’s soooo insane for me❣️❣️❣️❣️
Man, the best analysis i've listened to so far... This is great and very helpful as well... Thanks so much
Glad it was helpful!
VERY helpful indeed!👍♊
Marvellous! Both the coloratura and the analyst. Loved every moment. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
11:50 The background colouring perfectly matches the colours of the dress (almost black ... which makes the queen seem like a "floating bust").
A very VERY well choreographed performance!
Diana's vowel modification during the staccati was amazing!
I’d kinda love a hint as to how to sing these staccati. I tried transposing the whole thing down one octave or even two octaves, so it’s not where in the range they lie but… well. Use the diaphragm… but, how at that tempo?
Merci!
Thank you so much!!!!
i always think opera singers are amazing, and then I remember that they're belting everything out on top of 100 musicians also belting everything out, and i remember they're AMAZING amazing.
Thank you for dissecting this aria. It adds so much more to the understanding of the artist and her performance. Again, thank YOU!
I love how Damrau attacks and then backs off of so many of the notes, like they were knife stabs. She’s incomparable!
Watching Ms Damrau’s “Queen of the Night” powerful delivery, I have goosebumps each and every time.
I'm glad I discovered your channel, especially with this aria. Mozart was a genius. This scene is one of my favorites. The staging is superb. Diana Damrau is fantastic. Thanks for the analysis. I look forward to more.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Such a great video that really enhances and contextualizes Diana Damrau's performance. You're so enjoyable to watch and listen to!
I first saw this aria in Amadeus in the 80s on VHS as a little girl and was utterly transfixed - I had never heard anything like it. It completely shaped my view of opera and classical music. In the film this scene was in the common people's theater and it would have been world class high art, especially for ordinary people. The staging was beautiful but the singer was completely static - in one place the whole scene.
One thing I love about this production of The Magic Flute is the costumes; they are so interesting and beautiful - but the illusion neckline of the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting's gowns show exactly how much of the body is required to produce that kind of technically precise, projected singing. Nothing about it is static! The fact that Diana was walking and emoting is even more astonishing! Gives me an even deeper appreciation for this work even now after almost 40 years. Diana Damrau is always a joy to listen to.
Really great explanation of a classic piece. You made me re experience it. Just awesome - thanks.
I've watched a few singers perform this aria, all spectacularly well. But Damrau conquers them all in the way she inhabits the role. I think a lot of singers seem a little vague about what those staccato segments really mean; they're just trying to achieve them with perfection, and technically absolutely do. But Diana Damrau knows exactly what she means when she sings them at Pamina. She's not "laughing." A lot of reviewers/analysts talk about those sections as laughter, but not here. She's threatening. She's like the knife she wants to put in her daughter's hands, killing her hated husband. She's absolutely lethal. God, I love this performance.
It is said that on his death bed, Mozart had a flashback to that flat-6 moment. "Quiet, quiet! Hofer is just taking her top F; - now my sister-in-law is singing her second aria, 'Der Hölle Rache'; how strongly she strikes and holds the B-flat."
what thee says about singing's being a full body exercise is so true. I've always gauged how much I was working on my singing, either at a concert or a rehearsal, by how tired I was afterwards.
You are the second person that l watch, describing and explaining this aria, not very fond of commentaries like this, but the more l hear this aria, the more l enjoy it, l am utterly obsessed with this magnum spectacle, her voice is poignant, magical, strong, emphatic and intimidating, what a treasure.
Great analysis, congratulations for your expertise.
An absolutely excellent choice. Diana really does it for me! Her vocal power and range is fantastic. Not only is she a brilliant opera singer but also a wonderful actress ❤ Your analysis was as I see it, spot on ❤
Thank you so much! I have done quite a few classical music / opera reactions, please check those out as well :)
I just love this opera, seen it so many times and never tire of it!
Further analyzing her body language, not only does she whisk away as if in a puff of smoke, but instead of storming off, her shoulders rest and she walks levelly away. She's delivered her emotionally abusive tirade and then walked away, relaxed and calm once again. Classic abusive mother. Well done.
OMG. I was looking for the Dimash videos you mentioned in reply to a comment to another vid, and see you checked out my absolute favorite performance of this aria. It’s a true, dynamic performance, which is tough to do when you have to sing something this difficult at the same time. Her stressed notes are like poisoned darts, and you can see how seasoned she is as a singer-the way she positions her body and uses her mouth, even her teeth, to help nail those high notes. You’re right that this is pretty much an unbeatable performance.
I have read somewhere that Mozart wrote this for his sister-in-law, to showcase her incredible range. Some articles suggest he also didn’t like her so he wanted to put her out there onstage with a truly difficult aria that she would have to sing before an audience nightly. It actually does sound plausible since at the time it had never been done before. Would be a way to take her down a notch if she wasn’t up to it. But tangible proof? It is probably one of those apocryphal stories that we’ll never know for sure.
If you’re bored one day, there’s a video of Dimash warming up for a performance onstage, and he’s just singing these staccato notes like they’re nothing.
A lot of people have said what a wonderful actress... I would go further and say: what a wonderful dancer, along with the chorus of attendants.This aria has been choreographed perfectly to marry the requirements of the singing body to the expression of regal power, intimidation, manipulation. And distill the rhythms of the piece. And even paint shapes into the set design with her magnificent costume. The whole team is here.
Nice analysis !
Sem demérito de todas as demais sopranos, que cantam e interpretam essa ária, Diana é perfeita; quase que como se a ária tivesse sido composta para ela. ❤💐👏👏👏
Because she is a native German speaker, it sounds more organic.
So incredible I would love to see that performance in person.
What makes this song so menacing is that many of the chord choices and structuring of the harmonics and diminished notes are mirrored in later classics like Night on Bald Mountain by Modeste Mussorgsky. It brings to mind the same imaginary visuals of demons, devils, and witches claiming dominion over the whirling chaos of darkness.
Her approach to the character is my favorite: she played the Queen of the Night as a comic book villain.
This is not about the music, itself...but I wish you had shown the very LAST part of this scene. The Queen and her entourage scurry to the back of the stage, then as the curtains start to close upon them, the Queen turns and faces defiantly her daughter and the audience. That SO ends the scene with an amazing climatic dramatic visual point.
It is always a shame (for me) when many posters of this particular scene fail to let it run a little longer so that this genius inspired conclusion and climax can be shown and appreciated for the total unique closing and ending of this, the best adaptation and performance of this Mozart Masterpiece!! (In my opinion)
Diana Damrau and Mozart waited a long time for each other.
She's the best! Great review!!
Thanks so much! Have you seen any of my others? I have a few classical music/opera reactions on here
It's one thing to hit the notes but totally another to convey the character and That Diana
does it so powerfully. She is definitely my favorite for this major coloratura aria 💥
What makes Diana's performance so iconic compared to so many others I've seen is the acting and intensity and drama she is able to bring WHILE hitting every single not spot on. If you didn't know a single thing about the plot of this opera or the lyrics or anything and saw this performance, you'd have a pretty bang on idea what was happening. You FEEL the hoelle Rache.
I love your tutorials! Mozart's music speaks for itself. Historians speculate, because it is what historians do. Speculation is not all bad. It was curiosity that motivated a 1979 Broadway Play, later a move (Amadeus) that reawakened an entirely new generation of interest in this remarkable, truly gifted by the Creator man.
great analysis!
Thank you!
Often overlooked is the aria preceding the Hölle Rache, the "Zittre nicht, mein Lieber Sohn", my personal favorite, where Damrau's exceptional talent of voice and acting works like a steam roller...
Diana Damrau's performance is to Queen of the Night as Pavarotti's is to Nessun Dorma.
Diana is amazing of course, but props to the director, makep artist and scenery designer! Truly perfect! Also the ladies-in-waiting, hemming poor Pamina in. Scary
Thank you for this video
My pleasure
Diana is one of the only Queens who is able to convincingly act the scene AND sing it perfectly. Many of the others have to plant themselves and sing it with little movement (not a knock on them because this is a very difficult song!). But Diana is able to embody the song with intense physicality that plays with levels that match the intensity of her voice. It's outstanding!
I also think the costumes for the Queen and her attendants in this Royal Opera House production are the best I've ever seen. Not too flashy or busy, but still striking and and ethereal enough to catch your eye and give off the feel of regality. Others must agree with me because I've seen these costumes emulated in other productions which goes to show their impact.
Thank you for explaining to me what's going on in this aria. Now fully appreciate aria even more now.
Damrau is my favourite Queen of the Night! Amazing performance.
I have know real understanding of opera or singing. Just love the music. Thank you for a little insight
really really fun and smart
As a total amatuer, I’ve tried singing this (my sister is in a professional opera) and I find the part at 9:43 WAAAY harder than the coloratura.
You were right on point, guessing that the first performer of the Queen of the Night's part - Josepha Hofer (nee Weber) - indeed was Mozart's family member - being a sister of his wife. However, not out of spite or with tormenting intent, and not to sabotage deliberately - by giving the part to a bad singer, but to exalt and extol his music, Mozart just used the given virtuoso skills and vocal gifts of his sister-in-law, which she demonstrated with aptitude, and not just at the higly successful premiere night - under the batton of Mozart himself, but for the next 10 years - to universal acclaim.
Dr Strange: "Diana Damrau... I've come to bargain."
She was probably feeling good that night, too. Smooth as silk.
The part of the Queen was written by Mozart by having his sister in law Maria Josepha Hofer in mind. The part plays to the strength of her for high notes as a soprano. Mozart often had people in mind, when he wrote arias.
Diana Damrau is as good as they come, IMO. What a joy she is to watch and hear.
Sei veramente preparato e competente. Congratulazioni.
E sei anche un bel ragazzo.
Nailed it 👍 great job ❤
An additional reason that Diana Damrau can emphasized the consonants so well and make the lyrics
and their meanings jump off the stage and into the audience is because German is her native language.
Diana Damrau reigns supreme when it comes to this aria!
She is so beautiful. In every way.
Definitely the finest performance of all time of this aria! (Haven't heard those before around the 1930s but suspect that none would be at this level.)
It was Mozart’s sister who first performed the Queen of the Night, whom he loved very much. The character is fictional but Empress Maria Theresa could have been one inspiration, since she wanted to stamp out Freemasonry of which Mozart was a member and this opera is loosely about.
Sister-in-law.
@@lohphatYes, Josepha Hoffer, nee Weber.
Great review! I thought this guy was a micro managing dick, but at the 5 minute mark I understood his approach. It's technical and well informed from a professional of the art. Well done.
Thank you 😅
the best ever, including gracenotes before the sixteens
Well, this piece ends on a B-flat D Minor and there’s also a lot of octave jumping between the upper and lower register
I just laughed at Sarastro’s costume 😂😂 that must have been a really creative production
What you missed is the effectiveness of Damrau's use of props to convey the emotion like when she flings the coucg cover at Pamina
That woman is SCARY! 😱
I cannot imagine anybody singing this aria better than Diana Damrau. I think Mozart would agree with me
I have seen technically excellent performances of this aria, as good as this one, but none comes close in terms of emotional intensity. You notice that she feels and lives every single word she sings. This is a prime example for showcasing that singing opera is so much more than reproducing nice sounds.
Cristina Deutekom destroys damrau...
Adelina Patti - Cristina Deutekom, Diana has better acting skills than any other coloratura soprano who sings this aria, but her technique is not appropriate at all.
I can think of at least five: Deutekom, Popp, Moser, Streich, and Sutherland. I will have to compare one of Edita Gruberova’s better efforts, but she might be in there also.
The most iconic mother screams at her daughter
The thing I enjoyed most, beyond Diana setting the 'Gold' standard for this is precisely how it should always be sung, is the acting. The QoN is usually rather stationary if not fully stationary. She changed this and worked the stage. This became Diana Damrau in 'Die Zauberflote' by mozart and yes, little m
thank you
Not bad at all. Your German pronunciation is pretty good. Mine pretty much sucks as I've almost forgotten how to speak my original language.
Thanks!
Try watching movies in German.
And her Acting is wonderful. Shes so scary.
She really is
Diana Damrau is maybe the greatest soprano we can enjoy nowadays. She's PHENOMENAL
Hello Nick. , I completely screwed this aria thanks to you, for the first time👍🏻
Andy aus Deutschland 😉
I LOVE MOZART .... i think i listen to Moxart four times a day. And about the sopranos my all time favorite is Miss Callas of course
This is by far my favorite version. The costumes remind me of the Bene Gesserit from Dune.
Diana Damrau is my Queen of the Night! She's perfect for the role!
One thing You should bear in mind is that Damrau is a natural German speaker. Italian is an open language, which means that every syllabel ends on a vowel. German is rather the opposite where the vowel is hidden between consonants.
You should note how she starts on tip-toe and has to be VERY carefull in building up the crescendo, because she will crack one of the high F's. She probably did, and pensioned herself off the role. Erika Köth once did that, and say she could not sing it, because her throat stiffend up.
The other thing is, You can't set it down a notch, because then Sarastro in second Act will be in deep shit.
In diesen Heil'gen Hallen goes deep - real deep. Here with Gottlob Frick:
ua-cam.com/video/ryi39iYKmnk/v-deo.html
One should recall that Mozart died two months after the opera opened.
Lol he wrote himself to death
could you please include the date of the productions you are highlighting> thank you in advance.
Sure!
She also acts the hell out of it.
Would you perhaps be interested in doing a similar reaction video to a performance of the Papageno/Papagena duet? Some of that stuff seems impossible to me to sing (how the hell do they sing pa-pa-pa-pa that fast xd?), yet opera singers routinely do it with little visible difficulty.
Don Giovanni - Commendatore Scene. Seriously intimidating!
She is the best ❤
Love this aria ❤ and you do a very engaging job of dissecting it for us normal people. What else do you do?
She is putting a "magical spell" or a "magical charm" on her daughter to force her to obey to her order.
Yep!
This aria is quite difficult and on another level for most sopranos. Diana Damrau owned this and she's still the best Queen of the Night.
The Great Diana really captured the spirit of the Queen of the Night, like a Hecate made flesh. Every single sound hits like enraged knife, she even have some of the gestures for a spell. The dress and hair is perfect, she only need a black ringling tatoo on her left side of the face like a farrow. That would have been more sinister and more in conform with tradition of ancient times.