Beverly Sills as "The Queen of the Night" Die Zauberflote

[MrAndredekock]

Bravissima! Is there another voice that is even half as unique as this one was?

[pipposback2]

is that claire watson as Pamina?

[YaelBerman]

Amazing rendition! Thanks for sharing :)!

[windstorm1000]

Sills joked in her bio that the Queen was the most boring role she ever did--do an aria, macrame for 2 hours then come out and do the second one. Boring for her, maybe, but not for us---And many coloraturas pay for that Cadillac, second home, jewels because of this role--very few sopranos can attain those high F's--so that kind of soprano is in rare and in demand from the north to south pole whenever this work is staged. Queen of the Night brings the 'bacon' home for many sopranos--and how!

[marena9]

Mon cher Onegin65, you are quite a remarquable person!

[TheJbach]

I prefer nice.

[yarmo28]

I love her. I heard her sing in Giulio Cesare. But I've never heard the 'Zauberflöte' in English. It sounds strange.

[katieboyd1]

i love beverley but diana damrau completely owns this role for me now, her physicality is amazing she is so in the part. i reckon bev is just too nice to play this!!!

[oldtime61]

Astonishing ... what a force!!!

[lovesGenet]

Moser is amazing.this is something you can do or cant.Sills is great for her many qualities.I never knew she did this roel even in bits.Pretty challenging and she does it well.

[saagua1953]

This is simply not as good a performance as that of Damrau or Guberova or a number of others. She is at times a bit off the note and her coloratura swings and sways a bit wildly.

[Ynotbe1st]

@saagua1953 If you judge the performance like that, as you have a right to, then you may be missing the point, which is how your gut responds to the performance.

People spend so much time arguing who is the best or greatest - it all depends - what night, what role and most importantly, what does the Listener like?

DD and EG are great, but I've heard DD sound clinical and EG not have enough strength on some high notes - but that was on THOSE days, which happened to be what I heard.

[gerdislouise]

I have read that Sills hated this part. She did it beautifully.

[jlc10023]

This Sills clip is from a TV show done in Boston and is not from a performance. She also did one at Tanglewood with Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

[goblinonacloud]

I knew Bev' back when I was singing and told her that she sounded like a mother who makes biscuits (cookies) for the neighbourhood kids when she did this aria. She had a great rolicking laugh and agreed but loved the aria and no one could fault her diction or notes. She agreed that I looked more scary singing it. lol

[MastersoftheOpera]

You knew Beverly Sills ? I wish I had met her at least once so I can thank her for making me love opera. I was very sad to hear that she died. I didn't have the chance to thank her. May she rest in peace

[MastersoftheOpera]

Although I am a Beverly Sills fan and she was..my first...I don't really like her as Queen of the Night...her coloratura is perfect but I prefer the heavier, more electrifying Queen of Edda Moser. Sills does not convince as any type of wicked villain. She had too much warmth in the voice

[terriergal]

Masters, I have to agree, even though I've never heard of Moser before, I went and checked out a video and wow amazing. She definitely sounds more wicked!

[chocolatesouljah]

Also Die Zauberflaute is considered a great intro opera for kids. Often cut and in English. The Met has a children's version using the Julie (Lion King) Taymor staging

[RunningTopMale]

It would be nice if someone can post the whole aria as I surely miss Beverly Sills performance very much. I finally got a chance to listen to her Casta Diva now if someone can post the whole Queen of the Night I would really appreciate that VERY MUCH!

[Supergrass10]

it's an english.. yes -.-

[didoipod]

she's the queen of all the coloraturas

[fontenayperi]

is it in English??

[AkiraChan24]

Yes I think so

[violatido]

no. it's in German.

this is an aria from a Mozart opera.

[AkiraChan24]

No, I meant this perticulare performance.

[violatido]

wow. it is in English. i wonder why . . .

[sunp]

they do that in england and america alot, back then they didnt have the rolling subtitles like many big opera houses do now.

[Trevita17]

There's actually a cut version of Die Zauberflote meant for younger audiences(to view, not necessarily perform), and it's in English.

[cmhmuscle]

Because, like English National opera, the New York City Opera always did operas in English during that time

[petshopgirl72]

You need to listen carefully.... Beverly Sills is singing in English this time.

[SaddleBroncBlondie]

Does anybody know what the top note is in this piece?

[yousuck2]

f6 i believe

[yodavidnavarro]

You're right!

[skitzo429]

its not in this video, however, it starts midway through the aria

[Zerbinetta2000]

Amazing !!!

[heartstrings76]

I like her very much in this role.

[emalag999]

did she really sing that rol?

I didn't know!

Is it a video on youtube?

[heartstrings76]

yes, she did this role for about 3-5 different productions.

[IneedtoknowX]

That pitch...

[2ManyHighCs]

I would really be interested in hearing the first part of the aria if you could ost it please. thanks

[csuqared]

this lookeed very easy for Ms. Beverly.

[nicosupersex]

nicwe costumes, mamasitas, it is pitifully in english, but it's ok we love beverly, don't we???????

[FULLbakaFOOL]

I don't know how to put this, but she makes it sound easy to achieve such high notes. It doesn't really matter if it's a D ou F.

[RaWrZzZz]

what about the E in between !!!!!

[mmbriggs]

how is it that so many experts here know that there are high fs in this, the second aria of the queen of the night--but don't know they are listening to a performance expert that only includes the end of the aria, which does not contain the famous high f's. and how could anyone confuse these staccati for the famous f's, mot because they are a tone lower, but because they music, the rhythm is so entirely different.

[RaWrZzZz]

where exactly are the high fs??

[yousuck2]

they are not in this clip, later on in the piece they are sung staccato and very noticeable.

[CateDiva]

In case you are wondering if an earlier post is correct, this excerpt from Der Hölle Rache is not transposed, although it's in English - weird. It ends in d minor, just like Mozart's score... Fantastic, isn't she?

[BeauTenor]

Sills called this the most boring role she ever sang. She was great at it though...

[xturtlexfurx]

o wow... and yet those high notes are perfect. i think that this piece is the ideal coloratura. That's interesting.

[raigekimaru]

that's surprising. After all, how often do sopranos(especially coloraturas) get to play villains.

[dchiapello]

With all due respect, rrgallo is in error. It's true that D is 1 1/2 tones below F, but this aria has not been transposed at all. The high F's are all in the earlier part of the aria. In the later part, excerpted here, the high notes are D (four of them) just as Mozart wrote them. By this point, the aria has returned to its home key of D minor. It would indeed be nice to find a complete recording of this performance.

[rrgallo]

The aria is transposed down 1 1/2 tones. No high Fs, she's singing Ds... The aria still sounds stupendous.

[fuzmiq]

She sounds too good, like a freaking recording on those staccato notes!

[Hal5423]

Is that Maria Callas playing Pamina?

[IMthinkingGoAway]

No, I don't believe it is.

[pasfresh123]

Could it be Anna Moffo?

[isinglouderthanu]

I LOVE IT!!!

[artdanks]

Too bad this isn't the full aria. I'd love to hear those high F's. Does the full video exist anywhere of Sills doing this aria?

[flowersings]

@artdanks Yes just type in Beverly Sills Queen of the Night and several videos appear.  At least one of these contains the full aria.

[travisknoll]

@artdanks she does hit the high F's in this clip...

[petelovesbevsills]

Brava la Sills!!!

[jamesgeist]

ooooh!...still prefer Miklosa.