Queen of the Night Aria act1:"O zittre nicht" (14 sopranos)

[nikicover]

Kogen sung this aria really bad......I would not even mention her between all the others!!!!!

[DaliaChild]

I love Elena Mosuc, her high notes is sustained so beautifully! ^^

And my favorites are Luciana Serra, Cristina Deutekom, Edda Moser and Diana Damrau as well ^^

[anoperamusician]

Luciana Serra had the very best technique ever. She had a thin, qute uninteresting voice, but with that voice she was able to do literally anything.

Her sound projection was perfect at every height, allowing her voice to be heard always very well even in low register; her legato was beautiful, and the coloratura just unbelievable. Plus, she was theatrically and musically very imaginative, particularly in brilliant roles by Rossini and Donizetti, where she was just irresistible.

[yurroon]

What a nice idea to put all of these in a row! This aria makes me wish I were a soprano everytime I hear it.

Of course every-one has a personal favorite soprano for this aria; mine is the Dutch Christina Deutekom. Unequalled power like a machinegun loosely fired from the hip!

[TheHanipo]

where is diana damrau?

[spyridon77]

thank you very much for posting this!

[lancetop]

#1. The Divine Serra! Her coloratura is mesmerizing! We love you always dear Lucianna!

[barborakozakova]

Lipp is terrible!!! Her coloraturas are bad. Sumi Jo has a very good coloraturas but her voice is so sweet for the Queen of the Night, I like Geszty, Streich...

[ranhat2]

"Mozart--the monster!," the poor sopranos must have thought when first attacking this piece. Just amazing to hear it performed.  Absolutely the most demanding thing in opera, surely.

[sesshyssoulmate]

RITA STREICH! <3

[irenehoogveld]

I like Hoch, although the aria in itself has a big danger; to sound like a vocalise..

[sexyfuckerboy]

they all are awesome...

[albelem2]

Lucia Popp é imbativel...

[fossilkid4life]

Omg i love the one with Rita, that place has the BEST sound!!

[Vincenzo2010an]

roberta peters, luciana serra , wilma lipp, gruberovà

[Vincenzo2010an]

roberta peters, luciana serra , wilma lipp.

[spizzell1]

Really like Sumi Jo and Luciana Serra.

[fairlytaleofnewyork]

I like Luciana Serra's crystal clear coloratura the best

[spizzell1]

@fairlytaleofnewyork I like her very much.  also, I thought Hoch and Jo are very clear as well.

[idaspe]

Andrea Frei :o)

[Transoxiana94]

Luciana Serra blew my mind away. Diamond-cut-clear coloratura, almost Deutkom-like. I listened her in the other vid but there the recording wasn`t the best and I wasn`t impressed. However, whoever liked this compilation, shoud definitely check the other one too asmost of the singers are different. And vice versa.

About.Roberta Peters: this can`t be an F! F# or even G perhaps?!

[08intune]

Beverly Hoch! wow

[keriah17]

Karin Ott was really good

[Rattywotin]

I think these Queens are all great in there own way but why exclude the two best QOTNs ever, Edda Mosser and Christina Deutkom?

[flaze3]

They are all excellent. But for me, Wilma stood out... I couldn't say exactly why. However, as I say, all are superb.

[keriah17]

@flaze3 huh? she was the worst her voice is too weak and doesn't stand out

[flaze3]

@keriah17 in your opinion... I liked her.

[flowersings]

They are all truly brilliant in their own way!!! Thoroughly enjoyed. I know I will probably not be given an ounce of respect after saying this, but I am a popera fan who came to love opera through popera. I now love both!!! Although, I am not a fan of most popera singers' technique, only a a fan of a few of their voices. I am still discovering all the incredible opera singers. If you know of any, please reply and tell me, so I can check them out!!! Greatly appreciate it!!!

[blackcat53]

And Diana Damrau!?!

[uppopolo]

thank you for this

[KVdeV2000]

Luciana самая лучшая!!!

Tomeres is absolutely right

[massibgd]

great work!!!

[MusicalDemon89]

WHERE IS DIANA DAMRAU?!?!?!?

[longboardmiguel]

Sin niguna duda Rita Streich es la mejor! Estilo y elegancia!The best!

[mdcancerian]

Don't forget Christina Deutekom in Solti's first Zauberflote recording.

[marywardify]

I like Sieden's crystal clear tone and vibrant energy!

[varadouromusic]

sylvia geszty and otmar suitner are the best partnership, every tone is on the right place at the right measure

[rennelj]

well in any case, imho, i think the best one out of these is Sylvia Geszty. Too bad there isn't more of her on youtube.

[bdruggan]

Julia Kogan, a friend of mine, is fantastic.

[nicevidbro]

Lucia Popp, Damrau are the best, and they are not even on this list.

[ShadowTemple09]

haaa, where is diana damrau, she is like the best queen.... EVER!!!

[juliosastre]

Streich, Sieden, Miklosa.

[sujilo]

Thank you for all this, it is so interesting ...

[jenny47922]

Come on, Damrau and Dessay left out? Sumi is technically perfect but the acting, the emotions, really shine through with these two queens.

[mortitio]

Actually one of the very few singers that recorded this part, and actually got the overtones to ring through on the top notes was Lucia Popp on the Angel recording with Otto Klemperer conducting. Definately worth the listen! MArk

[mortitio]

Thanks so much for posting all these sopranos! Very interesting to note that very few of them actually get the overtones to sound on the high notes! Still very difficult singing though. Mark

[MrKristofito]

diana damrau is ok but loof Katarzyna Oles Blacha in queen of the naight

[Fandoc83]

Diana Damrau forever!!!!!

[waweva]

Undoubtedly the best: Luciana Serra: 6:28

[VINCENZO3002]

luciana serra

[Tomeres]

I LOVE Luciana Serra, her coloratura is so CLEAR

[GraceMccThe1st]

@Tomeres This woman's voice does things I previously thought only violins could do!

[Tomeres]

@GraceMccThe1st It's amazing isn't it?

Have you heard her rendition of the doll aria

in les contes d'hoffman? its amazing, so perfect.

[finisterrae69]

@Tomeres coincido con usted. ¡perfecta!

[javieritooo1]

Donde está la mejor,Damrau???La dejaste para un especial????

[Tomeres]

Julia kogen aint so great....

[frodobol7777]

1.-Lucia Popp

2.-Eda Moser

3.-Wilma Lipp

4.- Rita Streich

5.-Diana Damrau

[uglymoon78]

Lucia Popp also did some outstanding versions of this aria. Dessay and Damrau should not have been left out either!

[jerems0410]

@uglymoon78 I agree! I think Damrau's version is the best ; )

[phainopepla95]

Ow! Too many to compare! I'll stick with the always agreeable Sumi Jo. The live performances were among the more distressing of the lot.

[bedlambegius]

luciana serra è la migliore!

[zephyr2050]

Sumi Jo for the win, always. Everyone else is SO flawed: bad intonation, technique, rhythm, phrasing, breathing, everything. Hah, it's like night and day folks, =]

[artdanks]

1. Rita Streich

2. Karin Ott

3. Andrea Frei

[Tyrfingr]

Beethoven is my favourite, although when it comes to operas Mozart is the master.

[monoborisp]

Está muy difícil!... son maravillosas casi todas!!! :-)

[BassoAntico]

1- Gruberova

2- Miklosa

3- Sieden

[VictomofChange]

Fantastisch!!!! Gleich meine favs, sie waren alle sehr gut aber eine Obermutter macht noch keine Oper aus. Zweimal zum tränen bringen soll das Werk.

[flouraki]

Edita Gruberova!!!! numbaa one! :)

[klassicalkid90]

Roberta Peters is my favorite queen.

Her runs and high F are effortless!

AMAZING talent!

[bergk1mp]

And don't forget Natalie Dessay - she's on YouTube singing this aria sublimely.

[amlokadion]

I'm completely obsessed with this aria, I can't stop listening to it. I need help.

[anybodyealse]

it happens to me too

just hear another aria like

the bell song of Lakme

that amazing too

[amlokadion]

I loved it, but I missed Damrau among these talented sopranos.

And in the I would've loved a blinkibg eye in mozart's portrait.

Regards!

[rezila]

where is erika köth, the greatest queen of the night ever?

[SparhawkGT]

Wow nice compilation! All of these ladies are amazing...

[forallyouknow]

Kogun was horrible.

I think Streich and Miklosa did it most to my liking, because they were very solid and confident performances. Hoch was also very, very lovely (loved the good breathing), and I loved her transition from "dann" to "auf ewig". Geszty was great because she actually sounded like she was laughing (it is fioriture, after all). I'm unfamiliar with Frei, but I find her voice's timbre good, although a bit heavy and uncertain.

[KrosisHTS]

On technicality, I vote for Sumi Jo, the 1st one.

[memolandia689]

where is natalie dassay???? She is a great Queen of the night.

[ivanleop]

Where is Diana Damrau?

[mrlammermoor]

Wilma Lipp! She is regal and has authority

[baritonebynight]

Wilma Lipp gets my vote!

[Sesto73]

WILMA LIPP

[ll40808]

"Julia Kogan" like record in a bathroom or something....

1.Beverly Hoch

2.Cyndia Sieden

3.Luciana Serra

4.Sumi JO

Nice video!!!

[hillevifan]

I listened to all of them and my 3 favorites are:

1. Luciana Serra (She has always been my favorite queen and this just confirms it)

2. Beverly Hoch (My first version of this qotn aria I ever heard so it has sentimental value- plus its performed perfectly)

3. Cynthia Sieden (This was the first i've heard of her and her rich voice is perfect for the queen)

Thanks for posting this -

BTW- The Beverly Hoch version is not live- I have the recording and it is a studio recording.

[bimmerboy87]

i TOTALLY agree w/ u about about beverly hoch. it is performed perfectly. she has the best trills of ANY of these coloratura sopranos. and she holds the high F much longer than any of the other sopranos. they just barely squeek it out.

[assimilation]

Except hers isn't an F! Either she sang it a semi lower, or the recording here has been slowed down a touch.

[bimmerboy87]

actually she is singing an F! i listened to this recording many times and ive played it out on my piano and she is hitting the F so idk what ur talking about.

[assimilation]

Then I will respectfully respond, I don't know what you are talking about. It's quite obvious that when it changes to her performance that the key is different. With my keyboard her note = E not F. Sumi Jo's is quite clearly an F.

[bimmerboy87]

how is it that ur playing the note on ur piano and ur getting an E?? ur piano must be out of tune becuz CLEARLY she is singing an F. I kept playing the note over and over again on y piano and its an F no doubt about it. When i play an E its below pitch. Beverly Hoch can sing much higher than an F so y would she sing lower than what she is capable of singing? in one of her songs on youtube she hits an A flat6 above high soprano C.

[assimilation]

I'm using a computer based synthesizer made by Arturia. The thing is, if you listen to Sumi Jo's version and play an F whilst she hits that top note, its quite clearly an F, unless you're going to tell me she's singing an F#. Hoch's version isn't as high as Jo's. Now its not quite perfect pitch to an E, I will concede that, but it's FAR closer to an E then to the F that Jo sings. Can't you hear the obvious drop in pitch from Lipp's version directly before Hoch's?

[assimilation]

The most likely cause for the drop in pitch, because it isn't just Hoch's version that's lower Sieden's isnt bang on an F either, is a recording/playback error from the original. Like when a cassette plays back a touch too slowly. I don't know where these performances came from, but if the audio came from an old VCR recording, there's your answer. I'm not trying to say Hoch can't hit the notes, just that in this particular play back the top note isn't an F.

[bimmerboy87]

idk i cant figure it out. for some reason the song is played in a weird key. like her note is between an E natural and an F. like.....its really bizarre. idk its hard for me to tell. im playing the notes out on a real piano so idk....maybe im hearing wrong. im gonna ask my friend who has perfect pitch to see if he can tell me what note it is.

[assimilation]

Its nice to use the computer synth because I can overlay the synth to the performance, making it easy for a comparison. You can download demo's easily. It's exactly as you say tho, the key isn't bang on either hitting and E or F for that top note, its somewhere in the middle and to my ears, closer to the E. The original performance was probably on pitch for an F, it's just getting it from there to here has somehow slowed it, ever so slightly.

[assimilation]

With regards to Hoch's voice though, I completely agree with you, its sublime.

[0101010001001000]

In the Sumi Jo version they used a tuning with the original pitch that is lower (than the one of today's where A = 440 Hz). Back then when this opera was written it was probably around 409 Hz, which would mean she sings almost a semitone lower than the others...