Mozart- Magic Flute. "Queen of the Night Aria"

I LOVE Natalie Dessay's performance! I see Diana Damrau may have
dominated the search results for "Queen of the Night" aria but Damrau is
missing something Dessay figured out. Damrau's version of the Queen was
always consistently menacing and in control. Dessay's version tried to
be more balanced by giving the Queen vulnerability. Dessay successfully
portrayed a woman whose ideas became so extreme she lost her sanity but
had enough restraint to stay in control, which is very difficult to
perform. When Damrau performed the "high notes" to indicate the Queen
was laughing she seemed more like she was berating and scolding. Dessay
genuinely appeared to be laughing during the high notes, which, was
Mozart's intent. The Queen was giving a maniacal laugh because she was
going insanely incensed from the personal anguish of being oppressed as a
woman. Dessay's performance had a lot more risk in that respect but
gave a more complex portrayal of the Queen.



Stephie Pahlavi Zan