Professional Singer Reacts to Queen of the Night
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- The great Diana Damrau performs the famous aria 'Der hölle rache', better known as the Queen of the Night Aria in the Royal Opera House's production of Die Zauberflöte by Mozart.
Please enjoy this breakdown + analysis of Diana Damrau's performance of Die Hölle Rache. Please feel free to watch the original video, which is linked below.
Thank you to the @RoyalBalletAndOpera for the video!
Original Video:
• The Magic Flute - Quee...
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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.
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 ruclips.net/video/KQ_3gVL5790/видео.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?
My 4 year old daughter loves watching this aria. She decided that she wants to be The Queen of the Night for Halloween this year. I told her a lot of people might not know who she is. I was just being honest. So to help her I decided that I would go as Papageno and my husband as Mozart. I’m still not sure if people will know who we are but we will post pictures on Reddit to enjoy the comments. It will be one of the best Halloween trios of the night!!!!
She might get mistaken for Maleficient. Btw who cares if people will know who you represent as long as the mask is so cool
Please post a link to the costume photos. I’d love to see them.
Your husband could have gone as papageno and you as papagena
and - did you have fun and did people identify you correctly?
So pleasant to see young people who keep the legacy of universal culture alive. Thanks.
❤❤❤❤❤🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
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!!
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!
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❣️❣️❣️❣️
omg - what beauty in sound! what a voice - what an opera - what a composer ...
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.
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?
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.
Watching Ms Damrau’s “Queen of the Night” powerful delivery, I have goosebumps each and every time.
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.
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.
Diana Damrau's performance is to Queen of the Night as Pavarotti's is to Nessun Dorma.
Diana Damrau and Mozart waited a long time for each other.
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!👍♊
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.
Thank you for dissecting this aria. It adds so much more to the understanding of the artist and her performance. Again, thank YOU!
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.
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 love how Damrau attacks and then backs off of so many of the notes, like they were knife stabs. She’s incomparable!
I just love this opera, seen it so many times and never tire of it!
Marvellous! Both the coloratura and the analyst. Loved every moment. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Her approach to the character is my favorite: she played the Queen of the Night as a comic book villain.
Damrau is my favourite Queen of the Night! Amazing performance.
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
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.
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!
So incredible I would love to see that performance in person.
Really great explanation of a classic piece. You made me re experience it. Just awesome - thanks.
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.
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 😅
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.
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)
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.
And her Acting is wonderful. Shes so scary.
She really is
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
Thank you for explaining to me what's going on in this aria. Now fully appreciate aria even more now.
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.
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!
great analysis!
Thank you!
Nailed it 👍 great job ❤
She is putting a "magical spell" or a "magical charm" on her daughter to force her to obey to her order.
Yep!
Thank you for this video
My pleasure
I have know real understanding of opera or singing. Just love the music. Thank you for a little insight
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.
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
Dr Strange: "Diana Damrau... I've come to bargain."
thank you
The most iconic mother screams at her daughter
the best ever, including gracenotes before the sixteens
Here's a completely random fact about the basis of the hairstyles. Just the basis, because there is NO explanation for the hairstyle overall other than someone really likes toy trains too much and considers them a wearable accessory (????) Anyway. At several points in time,. it was popular for women to pluck their hairlines in order to achieve the belief that having a high forehead was a sign of superior intellect. Queen Elizabeth 1 popularized that belief after all her hair fell out and she started wearing wigs... ...which I really can't blame her for that; with all the stress that poor woman was under from every direction. (I mean look at the before and after photos of US presidents. They age spectacularly in just 4-8 years...she did it for 40, in an age when women were second class humans who didn't have the intellect to do ANYTHING except babymaking and witchcraft. which led to women all over the country doing it too. (They also copied her rotting black teeth look, for god only knows what reason they did THAT for) And also lead poisoning. Lead poisoning def had something to do with that. So the high forehead is pulled from history, but I have to say the attendants being mostly bald is a bit....eeesh...it freaked me out right until I learned they were men.
could you please include the date of the productions you are highlighting> thank you in advance.
Sure!
Nemmeno una di quelle o è priva di senso. Amo questa grandissima artista.
Merci!
Thank you so much!!!!
Woow!😍😍😍😊
R is gutteral in german but some places it is rolled like in austria bavaria
simple she is unbeleiveable
This is my favorite Minbari opera!
Is it this play where the song "When i am laid in earth, Didos lament" comes from?
No, that’s Dido and Aeneas by Purcell. This is the magic flute by Mozart
Enjoyed watching this analysis.
Those supporting characters with the Queen are actually men. If you look close at two of them, you can tel they’re men. Nothing new about that in theater and opera either.
Oh really? Wow! Thanks for the comment
An unfortunate inclusion of the Eurotrash element.
Don't forget that Sarastro is Pamina's Dad! Hell hath no fury!
The flat six makes a major triad. It sounds great not just because its unexpected, but it literally lifts the chord.
Thats not a criticism, just an observation. (I cant sing worth anything, but not bad at woodwinds and composing)
❤❤
People suppose that the author of the libretto ment Isabel de Castille
what do you think about Joan Sutherland in Queen of the Night aria? Thank you for sharing Diana's Damrau performance.
How I'd love to have a cuckoo clock with DD singing this.
Does anyone knows if there is a english singing version of this aria?
the bene gesserit are everywhere and scary 🙂
I could've sworn I heard you say: "OLD LADIES in the back." Maybe I need to get my hearing checked. 😒
ok....but what do i get if i do kill him?
"we'll have ice creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeam!"
Yma Súmac hacia lo mismo en los años 50
Me personally prefer the Version of Petricia Petibon... ruclips.net/video/dLs-Z47oFYw/видео.html
Her German Pronounciation is MUCH better and her overall Performance even in the Studio for Rehearsal is SO much better... Maybe give it a go if you havent :) Greetings from Germany.
❤ 👍😘❤ ❤
could he have written it for someone he liked as a way to show off ability? (though i guess if he was wise he'd triple check with the person to see that they could do it well)
maybe a dislike piece would be something that sounds....ok but not super memorable and has a lot of seemingly easy parts that could trip someone up 😀
Why a so bad quality for the video, too bad
The video quality isn't great on the original video!
Casta diva the Montserrat caballe
Mozart composed it, but he did not write it. And it is known as an Opera Buffo, so a funny opera.
Just watched the new Magic Flute movie… the movie was good. The aria was, ok.
His mother-in-law...lol
Dimash Qudaibergen szórakozásból egy lépcsőházban elénekli az áriából a legnehezebb részt, miközben a barátja a kamerába tátog: ruclips.net/video/IyyD3aVhPhs/видео.html
I hate when you cut the performance and comment...you should let everything played and comment after with specific sections
The video would get blocked if I did that
Hi Nick, I think Damrau is a fantastic soprano. From the sound of a metallic voice, for what I think. This allows it to adapt well to the characters of those classical music works that include text in German or similar languages. Taking into account that the German of the magic flute is yes German but in the form of the Austrian. But among all the various interpretations the one I prefer is that of Luciana Serra (link: ruclips.net/video/8GHSv8RLGlw/видео.html ) at the metropolitan opera. Technically brilliant execution, despite being Italian and therefore a bit the pronunciation of the Germanic language is lost a little. But beyond this she has an extreme and classic performance, posture and body movement typical of Italian opera. Among other things, the aria of the queen of the night is a serious aria with an Austrian text. Instead I like less the interpretation of Natalie Dessay and Sabine Devieilhe, of the character of the queen of the night.
As a native german speaker, I have to say, that you're statement. "... this opera is sung in the form of Austrian..." is complete nonsense, sorry! But this opera is sung in high german, no austrian accent at all! That's just ridiculous! 😂I guess german is not your native language, so you probably can't tell the difference between high german and the austrian dialect! Mozart himself, claimed to be a German, at least in his ethnicity. It would really, really sounding funny, if this aria would have been sung in an extremely thick Austrian accent. Even Austrians might laugh!
You are not going to like my comment, but if you take 10min to compare Damrau's performance with, for example, Gundula Janowitz, you'll notice how out of tune, out of breath Frau Damrau is. Even ignoring Mozart's composition and singing what the poor thing can, instead of the real notes. And it beggars belief that you sing the praise of what is a mediocre provincial performance. High F !? Really, I think you'll find it is about 2 and a half notes lower, but, hey, opera is fun. So as long as people find pleasure in this sort of singing, all is good. I'll do you the grace not to comment on your performances.....Good luck
Chato para demais ...
To much talking.boring.
It’s a reaction video, what do you expect? Watch the original
Your favorite part from "Das Lied von der Erde"
Very interesting Nick... great job
Glad you enjoyed it
LMFAO, "most famous aria," please, lol, because there are only a handful of operas written in German. Mozart fanboy.
It is the most famous
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!".
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!
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.
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.