Ruth Leon recommends… Queen of the Night – ornithologically speaking
Ruth Leon recommendsQueen of the Night – ornithologically speaking
One of the most difficult and effective soprano arias in the entire operatic canon is “Queen of the Night” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Many careers have faltered in the attempt to reach its heights. Here are excerpts of two versions. Do watch both. The first version is sung by Diana Damrau at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The second, well, judge for yourself.
That’s not Diana Damrau.
This is Edda Moser, not Damrau
You can clearly hear that the bird has not read the part properly, and was lacking a proper musical education.
Maybe the bird had been listening to Florence Jenkins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giI2uxwFRJg
I’m showing this to my cockatiel, Papageno. “Why can’t you do this?”
I was hoping the parrot would follow Frieda Hempel’s lead and toss in that gratuitous F above high C.
For a singer who was clearly winging it, the second performer was pretty good!