Superb, but take a look at the version recorded in 2001. You can clearly see an improvement in Dessay's voice. Der Hölle Rache as well. Probably the best Queen of the Night ever.
This is the most perfect version ever. The vibrato on that top note is beautifully tuned. And thank god we hear it as close the origanal key as it as meant to be. Screw Concert pitch, bring back baroque tuning!!!
@niskol I like it but what I don't like is these God awful post-moder bizarre productions and designs that don't look anything like the opera should look like. Mozart never intended for the Three Ladies who serve the Queen to look like Nuns. I like the traditional old school versions for instance the 3 Boys being winged cherubs or flying in a balloon or machine, the Queen coming down from the skies on the Crescent Moon, etc.I'm just too particular so I'm never satisfied.
@OperaMystery80 For the most part I agree on that point, and I'm not really a strong "purist" about it, but the librettist and the composer have a specific "vision" in mind. While somewhat malleable, there comes a point where modernizing what is basically a fairy-take to start with results in a work that isn't what the composer intended. The "Centennary Ring" for example, was so far removed from Valhalla as to be really disturbing to listening. This too, superb musically, but I don't like it.
dessay is perfect for "o zittre nicht"... diana damrau is supreme in "der holle rache", particularly in the performance in coven garden (London).. in any case, this last production, is one of my favourite Die Zauberflote. Papageno is really lovely... i suggest everybody to by the dvd or the bluray... amazing! Bravi!
Jeanette Vecchione - Donatti is the new upcoming coloratura soprano! The beautiful soprano made her European operatic debut at only 26 years singing the Queen of the Night at the Vienna State Opera in 2010!
@PatateRoussoiste oui c'est vrai ^^ enfin bon je pense que tout le monde a compris que je parlais du contre-fa, une note difficile à faire avec autant de clarté et sans forcer !
i close my eyes, and listen to a mother's suffering . . . her longing. at the end when she asks me to rescue her daughter, i feel as though i feel as though i would do anything to save her child and reunite them!! of course, she's putting me on . . . which makes the way this aria is sung all the more dramatic.
=.=' Really? Put a pregnant woman singing an insanely difficult aria in a CORSET BODICE? Really? I love how her interpretation is different from anyone elses. <3
Com'era brava, qui. Adesso, dopo anni passati a fare la cantante-attrice (leggi: pazza sul palcoscenico!), la voce stride, e l'inteprete, già magnifica allora (vedi questo video) non ha guadagnato un bel niente in espressività, semmai l'ha limitata.
@GosfordAbercrombie Oh come on! Damrau is recognized as one of the greatest coloraturas and is infinitely more musical than Dessay. I have been a musician for many years and Damrau is the woman who has re-defined vocal musicality. Yes, Dessay has a very very beautiful voice, but Damrau is, and I offer my apologies to you for our difference of opinion, the consummate coloratura of the last 100 years. No one can come even close to her.
I will agree with you that Damrau is amazing, but what about Popp? Her coloratura is unsurpassable, both in exactness of pitch and beauty of sound, exspecially in Holle Rache up top. However, Damrau does wonders with the text, a refreshing thing to hear, and her acting in general is the best interpretation I've seen.
She's really just perfection. I just love the ease in which she sings. And you can tell how much she just LOVES singing. Especially at 4:17. Just gloriousness.
@castodivo Well u might be surprised to find out that Dessay doesn't particularly love singing...the reason she became an opera singer is because that was the quickest and easiest way to become an ACTRESS, because as im sure u have noticed, she ADORES acting...as she has said in her interview "I would prefer people telling me that i cannot sing rather than i cannot act....because acting is everything for me and if they say 'oh she cant sing' its ok, cos i dont really care about singing " :)
This really isn't crucial, but (to SeventhSeeker) I believe she sings that sequence slower on purpose. It's part of her characterization, but moreso because of the virtuosity of her performance. Her ability to sing those notes in succession - without taking a breath as she has in other performances, as well as have other notable sopranos - ought to be applauded. It's especially impressive that the final high f is held for a little longer than the majority of performances of this aria.
Dessay is amazing as a singing actress....the great range of voice and roles she's performed continues to grow, outstanding in both comic and dramatic acting.
Hmm... in my personal opinion i think she has a beautiful voice but damrau was a better queen of the night. damrau was more dramatic and her voice was a little more powerful and even tho she was desperate for help she was still very demanding in her performance like an evil queen ought be. Dessay's interpretation was just a little too soft and legato sounding for me. But still a great queen of the night :)
They're so very different. I've been watching the Damrau Covent Garden performance and this video and sections within for the last hour or so. Ms. Damrau definitely has a more dramatic and aggressive quality both to her tone and her performance, whereas Ms. Dessay's tone is much warmer. The third section in particular is such an interesting contrast -- imploring Tamino to help as opposed to ordering him to do so. Don't know that one is better than the other; we can enjoy both.
You can't let our she's an evil queen at this part, IMO. That ruins the surprise later. I think she is supposed to sound like a distressed fairy queen in stories at this part.
"Had to" slow down?! That makes hitting the note and Holding it that much harder! That ritardando leading to the high note is the conductor's decision and it's VERY difficult. That moment makes this performance one of the very very best, regardless of one's opion about other vocal qualities and such.
No. I am cololaturasoprano. Holding is easier than stacato in high note. I asked vocal pedagogy professor why it is easy to me fron high D-F#.
He said it is depand on singer's physical and vocal fold abilities.But , I agree with you stacato short not is easier to most of sopranp. Not every soprano becasue each singer has defferent physical abilities and skills.
I like that she behaves like a true, loving mother throughout the aria, and does not become frenetic in the 2nd section. It's weird for a Sternflammende Konigin, true, but I like this! And I love how she sounds effortless on the high notes.
she is one of the greatest coloraturas that have ever set foot on this world....while other coloraturas struggle to reach that high F and most often it sounds so pushed or squeaky, its so nice to see Dessay reach that high F, which for her isnt the "high note" but its just "one of the high notes" since she had another 4 above that....
A=440 has been standard far longer than I've been listening to and playing music. I really get irked with criticisms of Dessay (and others!) which claim the tuning is adjusted for vocal convenience. How many conductors do you know (control freaks with perfect pitch!) who would MISTUNE the orchestra to give this or that singer an edge? Furthermore, allowing for the vagaries of electronic copying, her F is spot-on... (BTW, I *am* one of those conductors...)
Hey skitzo429!!!!! your information changed my life i was lost without that, now my world is completelly pefect, thanks. Actually just like to tell that Natalied Dessay is an amazing singer. :)))
while her Fs are gorgeous, here its actually an E, this is transposed down a semitone, sometimes (although, not very often in practice nowadays) things of this era are transposed down half a step to make it more "historically authentic." A was significantly lower than 440 at the time, and while it wasnt exactly a half step lower, its a relatively close approximation thats practical in modern performance (as opposed to using authentic instruments)
forget checking the high note, high pitched frequencies are harder to place, checking the key is whats important. the aria is originally in Bb, and the high F is the 5th degree of the key. If you check the key of this it sounds like a slightly sharp A major, its somplace between A and Bb (for temperament authenticity purposes), but its closer to A than Bb. therefore, the high scale degree 5 is somewhere between E and F, but closer to E, i.e., its not an F.
i don't think, this is really important to know. thanks for sharing anyhow, but at 1994 dessay was singing high a flats live. this here sounds great, she could have sung it in G major too, although it would be very low. thats not important. ;-)
I love Dessay from the way she's sings just so PERFECT! It's so clean, and all the notes are perfectly in tune, and not strained. I wish she had a little more passion in her singing though.
omg i just wanna jump on her!! lol she ALWAYS so DAMN good! and she always goes sayin stuff like "i dont rly care about my voice sounding good, i prefer being a rly good actress" even though all of her performances ,as it comes to the voice, are PERRRRRRRFECT! if she wasnt married with kids i wud just go to france and kidnap her so she can be my wife! lol
sorry but thats just to beautifull and gentle to be the evil queen of the night, yes amazing soprano, wonderfull voice, but not the queen of the night, on one hand it is too gentle in o zittre nicht, and on the other too neorotic in der holle rache, dessay shows her best in mozarts mitridate, wich unfortunatly is not a widely known opera, and the spesimines on the tube are numdered.
Well, you have to see her perform Der Holle Rache. Remember, in this particular scene, she's trying to be warm and encourage the prince to go rescue her daughter. She doesn't want to scare him away! :-) Beautiful and gentle is the way to entice a man to do something a woman wants, isn't it?
This is the most perfect hitting of the high note I've ever heard. She's so confident about it that she pauses very briefly before hitting it, and then holds it very slightly longer than other singers as if to demonstrate that she's fully in control.
This is absolutely beautiful - her singing is sublime.
However, has anyone else noticed that this performance is in the key of A rather than B flat? I hate to sound disparaging, but I couldn't help noticing and wondering why.
Her top F is actually an E.
Was this performed purposefully at Baroque pitch (a semitone lower) instead of modern?
Yes I noticed it, and thought it a possibly combination of a slightly lower tuning and the vagaries of electronics-- recording, uploading and playback, etc. It's not a full half-tone either! "E-sorta-sharp???" I can't think that the orchestra was deliberately tuned to the lower A rather than 440, but in a live performance who knows?
I did not know what had changed, but you explain it. The tuning of orchestras fascinates me even though I don't undertand it. There are differences and you hear them.
or... it is traditional for some singers to ask the orchestra to play arias in a key that is more comfortable for them... perhaps dessay asked to lower the key to make the high register easy to reach?
My piano is tuned to A=440; I also have perfect pitch. She is on a pure high F, with all the elan and confidence possible. A more graceful performace is difficult to imagine... altough I do like the utter madness of the power-drunken Queen by Diana Damrau in the Covent Gardan performance also posted.
I suspsect they are trying to use a historically informed tuning that is lower than modern concert pitch but not by a full semitone. Tuning did not "jump" a semitone from a "Baroque pitch" to modern A=440Hz but rose gradually as orchestras tuned higher and higher. Mozart's orchestras were very plausibly pitched close to the one in the recording.
After my opinion her voice is too "nice sounding" and "good hearted" to play the Queen. The same goes for Lucia Popp and Sumi Jo. This role is better off with a dramatic soprano like Cristina Deutekom or Diana Damrau.
Aparte de la voz incomparable de Natalie me gusta la composición sicológica del personaje: la reina no es una malvada sino una madre preocupada por su hija. Desde ese punto de vista, mas creíble, hay que mirar esta versión.
I think this is perfect -wonderful singing throughout - not just the complicated coloratura and wonderful acting too. The ay she fakes her weakness at 3.00 - brilliant.
I agree! This is the ONLY performance of O Zittre Nicht I've ever heard where the Queen actually works up to that high F and SINGS it. She doesn't "hit" it or "nail" it or smack 'n screech into it as is so common but even precedes it with a ritardando... SUBLIME! But compare to her other performance (also on YouTube) even she cant' do it any longer... more's the pity. But this is beautiful.
I must agree with Sylvanus — the performance is indeed "astonhishing". Easily the clearest high F in the repertoire, I think this is a stronger effort than that of Joan Sutherland.
this is very good, although i must agree with others that i prefer Damrau's performance. Dessay's F is the best i have heard so far though! how does she get vib that high? amazed!
this performance only has sense with the video: usually this aria is sung by a vengeful spirit and is interpreted accordingly, here we have a sweet, poised, calm woman and this goes very well with Ms Dessay's easy, sober singing
C'est magnifique!!! Cette voix est celle dont Mozart a rêvé pour sa Reine. Il y a beaucoup de subtilité dans le jeu de Natalie ici, elle est le charme, elle envoûte Tamino.
A previous comment said that she's supposed to appear loving in this aria - maybe most sopranos play it with some evil around the edges. This might be her best acting and singing on YouTube. I don't find her voice light, although I could be misinterpreting that word -in fact the intensity of some of her notes sends shivers down my spine. I find the dramatic style of singing, and her excellent, non-melodramatic acting help me understand this aria.I think it's better than her 1994 Der Holle Rache.
I agree that her voice is beautiful. When people say her voice is light they mean 2 things.
1. She is a coloratura soprano (the high type that does all those fast runs) NOT a dramatic soprano (which does the more heavy roles like Wagner)
2. A better word to describe her sound would be "THIN". Compare her sound to Joan Sutherland or Maria Callas. They have much stronger, heavier, thicker voices.....more of the original opera sound.
Did you see Diana Damrau's performance of Der Holle Rache (Covent Garden version where she has the black ivy dress with the silver crown)?? Regarding her portrayal of the Queen of the Night, someone wrote, "Sucks to be anyone on her shit list." She was HORRIFICALLY evil in that performance. I loved it!
Superb, but take a look at the version recorded in 2001. You can clearly see an improvement in Dessay's voice. Der Hölle Rache as well. Probably the best Queen of the Night ever.
AlgarismosGomes 1 month ago
This is the most perfect version ever. The vibrato on that top note is beautifully tuned. And thank god we hear it as close the origanal key as it as meant to be. Screw Concert pitch, bring back baroque tuning!!!
terminatesatmorden 1 month ago
Awful off-pitch orchestra playing!
MrGufidaun 3 months ago
@MrGufidaun They're period instruments, set to period tuning
musikphantom1881 3 months ago
I prefer Dessay's beautiful voice like a bell, over the heavy and hysterically vibrating voices of some other singers any day!
Femkela 4 months ago 2
wonderful natalie
LeonardAbbado3 6 months ago
really not strong enough for the "Queen of the Night" . I prefer Diana Damiau or Edda Moser by far.
fefieh 6 months ago
37 people disliked this?????? Are these people for real? How can anyone not like Natalie???
niskol 7 months ago 4
@niskol I like it but what I don't like is these God awful post-moder bizarre productions and designs that don't look anything like the opera should look like. Mozart never intended for the Three Ladies who serve the Queen to look like Nuns. I like the traditional old school versions for instance the 3 Boys being winged cherubs or flying in a balloon or machine, the Queen coming down from the skies on the Crescent Moon, etc.I'm just too particular so I'm never satisfied.
OperaMystery80 7 months ago
@OperaMystery80 For the most part I agree on that point, and I'm not really a strong "purist" about it, but the librettist and the composer have a specific "vision" in mind. While somewhat malleable, there comes a point where modernizing what is basically a fairy-take to start with results in a work that isn't what the composer intended. The "Centennary Ring" for example, was so far removed from Valhalla as to be really disturbing to listening. This too, superb musically, but I don't like it.
UlfenDaddy 6 months ago
She is such a joy to watch and listen to. Very graceful and effortless.
niskol 7 months ago
EFFORTLESS!!!!! So natural! increadible!
ibk1980 7 months ago 2
Quelle mise en scène grotesque. Pauvre Mozart. Comment une artiste comme Dessay peut-elle se prêter à de telles conneries ?
TourneledosRossini 8 months ago
Natalie's Morgana is unsurpassed!
nostopsnopurgatory 9 months ago
dessay is perfect for "o zittre nicht"... diana damrau is supreme in "der holle rache", particularly in the performance in coven garden (London).. in any case, this last production, is one of my favourite Die Zauberflote. Papageno is really lovely... i suggest everybody to by the dvd or the bluray... amazing! Bravi!
lunablasfema 10 months ago
<3
one3991 10 months ago
Jeanette Vecchione - Donatti is the new upcoming coloratura soprano! The beautiful soprano made her European operatic debut at only 26 years singing the Queen of the Night at the Vienna State Opera in 2010!
brenodonatti 10 months ago
4:11 !!
PierreAlexandreRavet 10 months ago
@PierreAlexandreRavet 4:10 je dirais plutot ^^
PatateRoussoiste 10 months ago
@PatateRoussoiste oui c'est vrai ^^ enfin bon je pense que tout le monde a compris que je parlais du contre-fa, une note difficile à faire avec autant de clarté et sans forcer !
PierreAlexandreRavet 10 months ago
The sequence 3:46-4:12 makes my eyes water.
gpeddino 11 months ago
La note à 4:12 O_o mais comment fait-elle pour sortir un son aussi aigu et aussi doux à la fois, c'est impressionnant !
PierreAlexandreRavet 11 months ago
I love her vocalizes
PatateRoussoiste 11 months ago
this recording has spoiled my ears for this aria! i can listen to her over and over and not get bored!
jj4b 1 year ago
i close my eyes, and listen to a mother's suffering . . . her longing. at the end when she asks me to rescue her daughter, i feel as though i feel as though i would do anything to save her child and reunite them!! of course, she's putting me on . . . which makes the way this aria is sung all the more dramatic.
theskipper1969 1 year ago
=.=' Really? Put a pregnant woman singing an insanely difficult aria in a CORSET BODICE? Really? I love how her interpretation is different from anyone elses. <3
RaWrZzZz 1 year ago
@Quesadilla1773 so agree!!!!
MelWolff 1 year ago
Nice staging concept!
SandrineSoprano 1 year ago
hermmoso
gaboviolista123456 1 year ago
Ideal mix for zitre nicht aria: first lyric section sung by Dessay, second section by Damrau
rrytas 1 year ago
Com'era brava, qui. Adesso, dopo anni passati a fare la cantante-attrice (leggi: pazza sul palcoscenico!), la voce stride, e l'inteprete, già magnifica allora (vedi questo video) non ha guadagnato un bel niente in espressività, semmai l'ha limitata.
leprincebeaumont 1 year ago
I'm sorry but why does she kiss the guy at 4:26?Just asking
Maranedy 1 year ago
I wish I could find this on iTunes.
samuelducanada 1 year ago
@samuelducanada You can!
SsteinwayS 1 year ago
Unsurpassable brilliance
vburm 1 year ago
Very few singers seem to be able to maintain such a rich, pure voice throughout the vibrato and coloratura passages.
samuelducanada 1 year ago 2
i absolutely adore this woman and her interpretation of this aria! and her german is great. her coloraturas are perfect, so light and clear! love her
silvija73 1 year ago 2
this coloratura is sublime!!!!!! damrau's is abysmal!!!!!!
GosfordAbercrombie 1 year ago
@GosfordAbercrombie Oh come on! Damrau is recognized as one of the greatest coloraturas and is infinitely more musical than Dessay. I have been a musician for many years and Damrau is the woman who has re-defined vocal musicality. Yes, Dessay has a very very beautiful voice, but Damrau is, and I offer my apologies to you for our difference of opinion, the consummate coloratura of the last 100 years. No one can come even close to her.
Randmeister52 1 year ago
@Randmeister52
I will agree with you that Damrau is amazing, but what about Popp? Her coloratura is unsurpassable, both in exactness of pitch and beauty of sound, exspecially in Holle Rache up top. However, Damrau does wonders with the text, a refreshing thing to hear, and her acting in general is the best interpretation I've seen.
EffulgenceDiva 1 year ago
She's really just perfection. I just love the ease in which she sings. And you can tell how much she just LOVES singing. Especially at 4:17. Just gloriousness.
castodivo 1 year ago
@castodivo Well u might be surprised to find out that Dessay doesn't particularly love singing...the reason she became an opera singer is because that was the quickest and easiest way to become an ACTRESS, because as im sure u have noticed, she ADORES acting...as she has said in her interview "I would prefer people telling me that i cannot sing rather than i cannot act....because acting is everything for me and if they say 'oh she cant sing' its ok, cos i dont really care about singing " :)
killerbunny123123 1 year ago 2
She is my favorite coloratura, just so AWESOME!!!
classicalgal14 1 year ago
One of Dessay's best performances ever! Exemplary! Delightful!
marywardify 1 year ago 4
This really isn't crucial, but (to SeventhSeeker) I believe she sings that sequence slower on purpose. It's part of her characterization, but moreso because of the virtuosity of her performance. Her ability to sing those notes in succession - without taking a breath as she has in other performances, as well as have other notable sopranos - ought to be applauded. It's especially impressive that the final high f is held for a little longer than the majority of performances of this aria.
cguise8 1 year ago
@Quesadilla1773 This "O Zittre Nicht" is great, better than either of her renditions of Der Hölle Rache on Youtube.
samuelducanada 1 year ago
She is perfection
ech313 1 year ago
I prefer lady gaga
willmross 1 year ago
that trill is so beautiful 4:12
Kivimusic 1 year ago 5
Dessay is amazing as a singing actress....the great range of voice and roles she's performed continues to grow, outstanding in both comic and dramatic acting.
Republicrat74 1 year ago
Heavenly! But she sings the sequence G A B D F! slower than what Mozart wrote. I know, nothing too terrible, after all it's very hard!
SenventhSeeker 1 year ago
Comment removed
sagaluke 1 year ago
This really makes my day. I love this interpretation. My interest in Mozart is renewed.
patrickesspi 1 year ago
Oh what a gentle and elegant Queen of the Night!
erunilmo 2 years ago 7
IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!
AngelLirico 2 years ago
Such a beautiful second part! Is it more difficult to sing that being pregnant?
annoduemilaotto 2 years ago 2
@annoduemilaotto it certainly doesn't sound like being more difficult :P
dhfjal 2 years ago
@annoduemilaotto If anything, the hormones of pregnancy should be good for the female voice.
marywardify 1 year ago
Flawless
Challenger2060 2 years ago
Hmm... in my personal opinion i think she has a beautiful voice but damrau was a better queen of the night. damrau was more dramatic and her voice was a little more powerful and even tho she was desperate for help she was still very demanding in her performance like an evil queen ought be. Dessay's interpretation was just a little too soft and legato sounding for me. But still a great queen of the night :)
MadTalented 2 years ago 2
They're so very different. I've been watching the Damrau Covent Garden performance and this video and sections within for the last hour or so. Ms. Damrau definitely has a more dramatic and aggressive quality both to her tone and her performance, whereas Ms. Dessay's tone is much warmer. The third section in particular is such an interesting contrast -- imploring Tamino to help as opposed to ordering him to do so. Don't know that one is better than the other; we can enjoy both.
regulargonzalez 1 year ago 6
You can't let our she's an evil queen at this part, IMO. That ruins the surprise later. I think she is supposed to sound like a distressed fairy queen in stories at this part.
saltyseaweed 1 year ago
she did it effortlessly, HOW COME!!?!?!?!?!!!
thomastmwc 2 years ago 6
great coloratura
thomastmwc 2 years ago 9
It is not the same for her "Der Holle Rache", unfortunately...
Such an amazing 2nd section here!!!!
papagena92 2 years ago
I do, too!
Dessay, Damrau and Popp are my 3 favourite Queens, in different ways.
DoryViolet 2 years ago 12
Omg she makes me shiver! =) Even if my favourite Queen of the Night is Diana Damrau, they are both damn great, it different ways!!
whiteshadow091 2 years ago 2
diana is the best!
VINCENZO3002 2 years ago
agreed!
pntheloose08 2 years ago
Great Orquestra especially the phrasing of the strings..!!!
Wonderful singer..!!!
Brunildilla 2 years ago 8
Very good, but she had to slow down before tackling the F. However, shemanaged to hold it a fraction longer than most.
opossumd 2 years ago
I think it was probably an artistic desicion to slow down there. The orchestra slowed down too, that would have to have been rehearsed.
brucesan 2 years ago 3
"Had to" slow down?! That makes hitting the note and Holding it that much harder! That ritardando leading to the high note is the conductor's decision and it's VERY difficult. That moment makes this performance one of the very very best, regardless of one's opion about other vocal qualities and such.
UlfenDaddy 2 years ago 9
No. I am cololaturasoprano. Holding is easier than stacato in high note. I asked vocal pedagogy professor why it is easy to me fron high D-F#.
He said it is depand on singer's physical and vocal fold abilities.But , I agree with you stacato short not is easier to most of sopranp. Not every soprano becasue each singer has defferent physical abilities and skills.
SuperMariacallas 2 years ago
I like that she behaves like a true, loving mother throughout the aria, and does not become frenetic in the 2nd section. It's weird for a Sternflammende Konigin, true, but I like this! And I love how she sounds effortless on the high notes.
DoryViolet 2 years ago 39
@DoryViolet well she was pregnant at the time
dht23 1 year ago
great recording, is there a dvd?
deadcalledpark 2 years ago 7
I dont believe this... another great Queen of the Night? I though only Damrau has sung this in the last 70 years :)))
LohengrinT 2 years ago
Luciana Serra is as good as Diana if not even better, according to me. Luciana's voice is purer and she vocalizes better. Even if Diana acts better.
About Dessay, I think she sings this aria well, her perform of Der Holle Rache is horrible though.
3F93 2 years ago
que es genial mozart....
me encanta...
Mamuelyop 2 years ago 2
the vocal perfection
Medy93 2 years ago 8
she is one of the greatest coloraturas that have ever set foot on this world....while other coloraturas struggle to reach that high F and most often it sounds so pushed or squeaky, its so nice to see Dessay reach that high F, which for her isnt the "high note" but its just "one of the high notes" since she had another 4 above that....
killerbunny123123 2 years ago 11
Comment removed
DoryViolet 2 years ago
I like more her performance 3 years later in Salzburg. Weird but very creative abd funny.
ichmalealsobinich 2 years ago
FYI-the pitch is A 430 hz which is the accepted pitch for Mozart and all Classical repertoire when performed on Historical Instruments.
rosalbasemiplena 2 years ago
thats odd, in australia we tune to A 440
aalg4c 2 years ago
A=440 has been standard far longer than I've been listening to and playing music. I really get irked with criticisms of Dessay (and others!) which claim the tuning is adjusted for vocal convenience. How many conductors do you know (control freaks with perfect pitch!) who would MISTUNE the orchestra to give this or that singer an edge? Furthermore, allowing for the vagaries of electronic copying, her F is spot-on... (BTW, I *am* one of those conductors...)
UlfenDaddy 2 years ago 6
It so easy to sing, when you hear this, right? :))))
MisterSoprano 2 years ago 2
I wonder if her being pregnant durning this opera made it any harder to do? She did this excelently!
violinistx100 2 years ago
Hey skitzo429!!!!! your information changed my life i was lost without that, now my world is completelly pefect, thanks. Actually just like to tell that Natalied Dessay is an amazing singer. :)))
Ricardootje 2 years ago
not the best but still good
MartinKrauen 2 years ago
o siii mi cantante favoritaa!!!
solei87 2 years ago
une voix sublime
une belle interprétation
excellent !!
R1A2D3I4O5 2 years ago 6
ugh she upsets me so much. take a year off and go back to mozart, handel, and baroque!! u were flawless there!
moghedien13 2 years ago
this is mozart......
aalg4c 2 years ago 3
uh...die zauberflote is Mozart.
duh.
stradiwannabe 2 years ago
It's not perfect... but very impressive nonetheless.
Laeliapurpurata 2 years ago
Fa diezz!
:O
Great!!
ChocoGnomesAreEVIL 2 years ago
Me encanta Dessay...
lukameridian 2 years ago
best top f
ever
clavierubung 2 years ago 6
while her Fs are gorgeous, here its actually an E, this is transposed down a semitone, sometimes (although, not very often in practice nowadays) things of this era are transposed down half a step to make it more "historically authentic." A was significantly lower than 440 at the time, and while it wasnt exactly a half step lower, its a relatively close approximation thats practical in modern performance (as opposed to using authentic instruments)
skitzo429 2 years ago
I have to disagree. I've examined the frequencies using Audacity and compared with set frequency tones and it is most definitely an F.
maddiemooey 2 years ago 2
forget checking the high note, high pitched frequencies are harder to place, checking the key is whats important. the aria is originally in Bb, and the high F is the 5th degree of the key. If you check the key of this it sounds like a slightly sharp A major, its somplace between A and Bb (for temperament authenticity purposes), but its closer to A than Bb. therefore, the high scale degree 5 is somewhere between E and F, but closer to E, i.e., its not an F.
skitzo429 2 years ago
i don't think, this is really important to know. thanks for sharing anyhow, but at 1994 dessay was singing high a flats live. this here sounds great, she could have sung it in G major too, although it would be very low. thats not important. ;-)
aworysse 2 years ago
sorry, but you're wrong, maddiemooey is right!
Villemo1988 2 years ago
I love Dessay from the way she's sings just so PERFECT! It's so clean, and all the notes are perfectly in tune, and not strained. I wish she had a little more passion in her singing though.
saxamaphoneguy1 2 years ago 5
OMG! She's amazing!
SawyersSexy 2 years ago
omg i just wanna jump on her!! lol she ALWAYS so DAMN good! and she always goes sayin stuff like "i dont rly care about my voice sounding good, i prefer being a rly good actress" even though all of her performances ,as it comes to the voice, are PERRRRRRRFECT! if she wasnt married with kids i wud just go to france and kidnap her so she can be my wife! lol
killerbunny123123 2 years ago 7
this is SOOOOOOOOOO TRUE!
leoperarm 2 years ago
wow !
2itch 2 years ago
sorry but thats just to beautifull and gentle to be the evil queen of the night, yes amazing soprano, wonderfull voice, but not the queen of the night, on one hand it is too gentle in o zittre nicht, and on the other too neorotic in der holle rache, dessay shows her best in mozarts mitridate, wich unfortunatly is not a widely known opera, and the spesimines on the tube are numdered.
angelstar2701 2 years ago
Well, you have to see her perform Der Holle Rache. Remember, in this particular scene, she's trying to be warm and encourage the prince to go rescue her daughter. She doesn't want to scare him away! :-) Beautiful and gentle is the way to entice a man to do something a woman wants, isn't it?
oneworldguy 2 years ago 4
wow... where is he now??? from japan here
HiDeki2684 2 years ago
Double WOW !!!!
honghongbcc 2 years ago 4
wow!!!...
michna186 2 years ago
Absolutely fantastic. Beautiful tone, technique and vibrato, and everything is made to sound just so easy and natural. What a great soprano!!!
Florio60 2 years ago 7
wow! great voice!!!!!
juliuscena 2 years ago 2
the clarity of the runs is just frightening :)
cmhmuscle 3 years ago 5
Incredible aria sung incredibly well!
jimbart76 3 years ago 2
Gorgeous.
Judill 3 years ago
and yet she's supposed to be pregnant here? whoaa. very nice.
kerobi11 3 years ago
I've never heard a purest high note!!!
K189T 3 years ago 4
Beverly Hoch's F is amazing too.
jamalakadea 3 years ago
This is the most perfect hitting of the high note I've ever heard. She's so confident about it that she pauses very briefly before hitting it, and then holds it very slightly longer than other singers as if to demonstrate that she's fully in control.
pashton2002 3 years ago 7
Lindooooooo !!
OrganitO 3 years ago
This is absolutely beautiful - her singing is sublime.
However, has anyone else noticed that this performance is in the key of A rather than B flat? I hate to sound disparaging, but I couldn't help noticing and wondering why.
Her top F is actually an E.
Was this performed purposefully at Baroque pitch (a semitone lower) instead of modern?
Bozpot 3 years ago
Yes I noticed it, and thought it a possibly combination of a slightly lower tuning and the vagaries of electronics-- recording, uploading and playback, etc. It's not a full half-tone either! "E-sorta-sharp???" I can't think that the orchestra was deliberately tuned to the lower A rather than 440, but in a live performance who knows?
UlfenDaddy 3 years ago
possible that the playback is affecting it as well
kage1987 3 years ago
I did not know what had changed, but you explain it. The tuning of orchestras fascinates me even though I don't undertand it. There are differences and you hear them.
TedMichaelMorgan 3 years ago
no its an F i tested on my piano
raveoni926 3 years ago
or... it is traditional for some singers to ask the orchestra to play arias in a key that is more comfortable for them... perhaps dessay asked to lower the key to make the high register easy to reach?
Motetftw 3 years ago
My piano is tuned to A=440; I also have perfect pitch. She is on a pure high F, with all the elan and confidence possible. A more graceful performace is difficult to imagine... altough I do like the utter madness of the power-drunken Queen by Diana Damrau in the Covent Gardan performance also posted.
UlfenDaddy 3 years ago 3
I suspsect they are trying to use a historically informed tuning that is lower than modern concert pitch but not by a full semitone. Tuning did not "jump" a semitone from a "Baroque pitch" to modern A=440Hz but rose gradually as orchestras tuned higher and higher. Mozart's orchestras were very plausibly pitched close to the one in the recording.
matthanlon 3 years ago
You're right, it's tuned a bit lower like in the past!
magicprepy 3 years ago
Fantástico!
OrganitO 3 years ago
only have seen her in "Daughter" amd she was soooo much fun.
Awesome.
Is she dramatic enough for this?
Nhlvrnfla 3 years ago
You mean Pamina?
EmilyGreene1984 3 years ago
this is the queen of the night, not pamina...
skitzo429 3 years ago
She is sooo amazing at this <3 =]
rawitch 3 years ago
After my opinion her voice is too "nice sounding" and "good hearted" to play the Queen. The same goes for Lucia Popp and Sumi Jo. This role is better off with a dramatic soprano like Cristina Deutekom or Diana Damrau.
lullaluna 3 years ago 2
Cristina Deutekom has been my fav since I heard her long ago on a record I still have.
Rexicano 3 years ago
Natalie Dessay has an absolutely beautiful voice and she is so beautiful herself.
oneworldguy 3 years ago 3
I am at loss for words.
vdhelst 3 years ago
Aparte de la voz incomparable de Natalie me gusta la composición sicológica del personaje: la reina no es una malvada sino una madre preocupada por su hija. Desde ese punto de vista, mas creíble, hay que mirar esta versión.
solensegunda 3 years ago
I think this is perfect -wonderful singing throughout - not just the complicated coloratura and wonderful acting too. The ay she fakes her weakness at 3.00 - brilliant.
opera1dan2 3 years ago 2
wow..
"der hölle rache" i like best from lucia in klemperer's flute
but for this aria its absolutely my favourite
gregk21 3 years ago 5
I agree! This is the ONLY performance of O Zittre Nicht I've ever heard where the Queen actually works up to that high F and SINGS it. She doesn't "hit" it or "nail" it or smack 'n screech into it as is so common but even precedes it with a ritardando... SUBLIME! But compare to her other performance (also on YouTube) even she cant' do it any longer... more's the pity. But this is beautiful.
UlfenDaddy 3 years ago 2
i so agree... dessay works up to it. then hits the note, with a sustain on it... bellisma
isinglouderthanu 3 years ago
she is definitely for coloratura stuff! and comic operas....so good at comedy! Daughter of the Regiment with Dessay...a must watch!
flouraki 3 years ago
My God. Wasn't early Dessay unbelievable?
latraviata1853 3 years ago
I've been looking for a recording of this on CD but have been unsuccessful. Anyone know how to get it?
MagnoliaGoth 3 years ago
I must agree with Sylvanus — the performance is indeed "astonhishing". Easily the clearest high F in the repertoire, I think this is a stronger effort than that of Joan Sutherland.
MaximilianCaldwell 3 years ago
Extremely good, but the best Queen of the Night I have EVER heard was Christine Deutkomm and I can only compare anyone else with her unfavourably.
ConVivo 3 years ago
Absolutely astonhishing! Such clean notes!!
Sylvanus61 3 years ago 3
Whew!
traydb 3 years ago
I think her high F is the most beatiful and clean i've ever heard...unbelievable
77tokyoboy77 3 years ago 5
her coloratura is the finest of them all. and her high F...simply breathtaking!
chrismo1984 3 years ago 4
Still, Lucia Popp is best.
stingabe 3 years ago
she was four months when she sang this
mikmil90 3 years ago 2
Wow. She looks older. ;)
MehdiCaps 3 years ago 6
dessay is pretty, but boring. like damrau, and miklosa's performance better. miklosa makes this look like tying a shoelace.
mrtyles 3 years ago
this is very good, although i must agree with others that i prefer Damrau's performance. Dessay's F is the best i have heard so far though! how does she get vib that high? amazed!
jazzylianne 3 years ago 2
this performance only has sense with the video: usually this aria is sung by a vengeful spirit and is interpreted accordingly, here we have a sweet, poised, calm woman and this goes very well with Ms Dessay's easy, sober singing
idraote 3 years ago
never a fan of hers but i do agree that her voice is a lot better here compared to now which is horrible
yiudiumui 3 years ago
C'est magnifique!!! Cette voix est celle dont Mozart a rêvé pour sa Reine. Il y a beaucoup de subtilité dans le jeu de Natalie ici, elle est le charme, elle envoûte Tamino.
isabelbleuet 3 years ago
Her voice is so calm and clear. Beautiful!
lokitrix 3 years ago 4
her voice sounds so much better here, than in recent years, Why?? I agree though it is a boring rendition!!! i prefer damrau or gruberova!!!!
Tommy211hick 3 years ago 2
She sounds great, but I don't see very much of the character in it. There's not a lot of dynamics either.
emmylucille 3 years ago 3
Excellent!
ernestalba 3 years ago
I don't dare give myself this treat too often, for fear of making too much of a good thing. This video has made me much more interested in opera.
sm444 3 years ago
A previous comment said that she's supposed to appear loving in this aria - maybe most sopranos play it with some evil around the edges. This might be her best acting and singing on YouTube. I don't find her voice light, although I could be misinterpreting that word -in fact the intensity of some of her notes sends shivers down my spine. I find the dramatic style of singing, and her excellent, non-melodramatic acting help me understand this aria.I think it's better than her 1994 Der Holle Rache.
samuelducanada 3 years ago
I agree that her voice is beautiful. When people say her voice is light they mean 2 things.
1. She is a coloratura soprano (the high type that does all those fast runs) NOT a dramatic soprano (which does the more heavy roles like Wagner)
2. A better word to describe her sound would be "THIN". Compare her sound to Joan Sutherland or Maria Callas. They have much stronger, heavier, thicker voices.....more of the original opera sound.
queenofopera 3 years ago 2
I love her in this role and I think she is in a wonderfull shape here.
In fact I dont care she dosn't sounds dramatic enough like the others.
God her voice is so divine here. love her
sopran21 3 years ago 2
Right on the money!
samuelducanada 3 years ago
This queen of the night could be my aunt. She has a great voice, but she doesn't look mean and cruel.
I like Diana Damrau's performance better.
This was a bit boring.
DIVYMODE 3 years ago
Did you see Diana Damrau's performance of Der Holle Rache (Covent Garden version where she has the black ivy dress with the silver crown)?? Regarding her portrayal of the Queen of the Night, someone wrote, "Sucks to be anyone on her shit list." She was HORRIFICALLY evil in that performance. I loved it!
oneworldguy 3 years ago
Beautiful! :)
pacoenfadonha 3 years ago