O Zittre Nicht- Lucia Popp

[wattever333]

4'36 very flat, should have been redone.

[rausy]

the best queen of the night ever and a beautiful alround singer and artist.

[nikicover]

such a wonderful emotion.....

[gustopheles]

The cleanest coloratura in Mozart. Brilliant.

[GoldinDr]

What a stupendous cast.

It's surprising to me today that Gundula Janowitz would have sung Pamina in a troupe that included Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Now I wonder when Schwarzkopf stopped singing Pamina.

[SergLondon]

If somebody can sound sweet and evil at the same time, there is only one word for it: genius.

[MsVerlinden]

he et lily pons et regina resnik

[jradetzky]

the finale always blows my mind

[RaWrZzZz]

Wow! This is the frist time I've heard Lucia Popp...SHE'S BRILLIANT. Wow! A stunning lyric coloratura voice <3

[Dogaradodia]

Certified Intergalactic! Okay, Lucia Popp has the best "O Zittre Nicht".

[jradetzky]

@Dogaradodia actually, for intergalactic/extraterrestrial singing of this aria Cristina Deutekom is better

[DiVeronica]

YES! KLEMPERER! WORSHIP THIS RECORDING FOR IT IS THE BEST.

[ppyne1037]

I have three recordings of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," this one among them. I bought the digital remastering on amazon.com a few years ago.

I saw this opera for the first time in the 1960s, and of course this aria, the lament of a loving mother for her kidnapped daughter, won my heart. Until Act 2, of course, when we learn the real nature of the Queen of the Night.

Thanks for this post.

[flowersings]

She has the most wonderful color in her voice. Possibly, the most beautiful I have ever heard! I am a huge fan. Does anyone know where I can get any of her recordings or albums?

[MrSkylark1]

@flowersings

Suggest you listen to ELIZABETH RETHBERG; MELITTA HEIM; NEZHDANOVA, just to name a few who far surpass this singer

[flowersings]

@MrSkylark1 I didn't say she is the best singer I have ever heard, rather she has the most beautiful colour of voice that I have ever heard. I will be happy to check out your suggestions. You could have been a little less patronizing in your comment.

[jradetzky]

@MrSkylark1 never heard of them, maybe never too famous

[SuperJohnnykay]

@MrSkylark1 ;Thanks for the suggestion of these 3 coloratura sopranos!You must be an historian of some depth to have knowledge of these ladies. Havent found any of them doing Mozart, but on YT there is an Edison cylinder of Melitta Heim singing Strauss that is just breath-takingly good!Once again, thanking you for the suggestions, JK

[MrSkylark1]

@SuperJohnnykay

Much appreciated. Here are other stellar artists of that era that you will enjoy. NEZHDANOVA; TETRAZZINI;

MADO ROBIN; BOGNA SOKORSKA-Il Bacio; her teacher ADA SARI-Caro Nome; MILIZA KORJUS-film; LINA PAGLIUGHI. And, if you want to listen to a supreme example of beautiful singing by a TENOR, the remarkable

SERGEI LEMESHEV, far superior to all the tenors today, indeed since Caruso/Gigli. All available on You Tube to whom much gratitude is offered.

[Norfolkscot]

Is it possible you could post Lucia's Schubert Ave Maria.  I have never before or since hear anyone singing it with such beauty of tone.

[Gobbi2007]

ich möchte nicht pedantisch sein, aber es ist mir gerade eben aufgefallen, dass sie Schwierigkeiten mit "CH" "GK" "CHT" usw. hat. Wie sie "ich" "Tochter" "DICH" "EWIG" usw. ausspricht... daran merkt man, dass sie keine Deutsche war. Und ich liebe sie. Sorry. Just a comment.

[viewhue]

@Gobbi2007 I understand this to be a critique of pronounciation (right?), but I'm not that great at German. Would you mind terribly posting the comment again in English, and just clarifying in what way you should pronouce those sounds (like if there is an English word that works as an example) because I'd like to be able to sing it with correct pronounciation. Thanks :)

[Gobbi2007]

@viewhue no prob replying in English. I didn't want to sound pedantic, since I adore everything she sings, whether her interpretation was spot on or not. My comment reflects my own surprise at never having noticed her shortcomings in pronunciation. As comparison, listen to Damrau (I know: everybody has been buzzing about her) in dialogue and singing. Her "e" is not "Eh" but "IE", sort of an "E" with an "I" thrown in. Hard to explain in writing.

[flowersings]

A true master!!!

[Babs22h]

appreciate your upload dear...the image is trivial!...thanx again!

[marywardify]

Dear Leoperarm, as a fellow HUGE opera and classical music fan, I can't thank you enough for all your wonderful posts on YouTube. This one is particularly beautiful as far as displaying the miracle of Popp's artistry and of her incomparable instrument. Ravishing! She has a noticeable (Slavic) accent in German, but her diction is good. This is coloratura at its best!

[leoperarm]

@marywardify thank YOU! (and Lucia^^)

[UnaverageAmerican]

Gorgeous!!!

[Babs22h]

WONDERFUL! but hardly the queen of the night.... she sounds as if she's singing about flowers and daisies!

[rennelj]

@Babs22h hahaha that's exactly what i thought, especially during the last run! still, she sung it very very beautifully.

[Babs22h]

@rennelj I agree WHOLE HEARTEDLY WITH YOU DEAR! she sang the aria like an angel... especially the top note at 4:23 and from 4:29- 4:35(the color of tone here is especially milky and velvety i lvoe it!--- having such color and ease on such a high note seems particular to Popp)

[saltyseaweed]

Well, this is the part where she is asking the hero to save her kidnapped daughter, so I think it's not too far to sing it sad and beautifully. The rage comes later . ..

[Babs22h]

i did a lyric check and I think you may be right about. I guess I just appreciated diana damrau's version of this aria because her intesity increased as she was singing the aria. it was as if she had a huge crescendo marking over the latter half of the aria. I loved. I think it comes with really acting a song which Damrau did. I felt the importance of what she was saying not just pretty souds

[saltyseaweed]

I am a bit mixed about Damrau. On one hand, her singing is electric and her acting fantastic, but she kind of undermined the surprise of the story. In part of the story is supposed to feel like a typical fairy tail, with the beautiful, distressed queen with a quest. Damrau kind of turns on the evil early on. But hey, it was a great performance.

[NIROYAK]

@Babs22h agree. my favorite in this role is edda moser.

damrau is a bit under her by reaching the storm of the dramatic role.

[leoperarm]

@Babs22h this is the 'nice' aria of the queen, she's all persuasive and sweet ;-)

[Tommyfazz]

@leoperarm thank you for the disambiguation of 'Babs22h' :0)

[woundedheart132]

@leoperarm So true. during this aria she's a coniving woman. This is my fave opera. Thanks for posting.

[MrAndreanazareth]

@Babs22h I agree

hardly the harshness of a mother trying to get back her daughter

[vanzofaust]

@Babs22h

This aria isn't supposed to be 'angry'. She's trying to convince Tamino to 'save' her daughter. The second aria is the Rache (vengeance/revenge) aria (Der Hölle Rache).

[77Opera]

How wonderful!!!

[flowforms]

now now children, just enjoy the music

[HerrIssyvoo7]

Lucia Popp ist zugleich Mutter und (unbarmherzige) Herrschsüchtige ohne allzu oberflächliche Pseudo-charakterisierung. Sie vertraut auf Mozart und der kann ihr vertrauen - königlich!

[fierysensual]

Xuhinea CLARO?

[Xuhinea]

OH! Thank you for showing my ignorance. Must be so good to be as literate as you are! As I said in my previous comment, so much for sharing thoughts in YouTube.

Obviously I am not at the level of your comments.

Bye forever!

[Xuhinea]

I've just listened to Damrau's version by leoperarm.

I must say that Damrau is a great singer. She delivers a splendid "O zittre Nicht". Tempo wise is even better than Popp's.

Many things had been done to present Zauberflöte differently and sometimes don't work. Maybe this is the case. For me Damrau is too far from Mozart. Probably the conductor has some responsibility. He's exaggeratedly romantic.

Having said that I think Diana manages to deliver a very good Queen. Both in singing and acting.

[vanzofaust]

what makes you think that Popp determined the tempo? This recording is famous for Klemperer's slow tempi.

[Xuhinea]

I did not say she determined the tempo. I said that the tempo is too slow for my taste. For Zauberflote I prefer Furtwängler or Karl Böhm's tempo.

[DottoreJojo]

Damrau is terrible. The "acting" is vulgar and exaggerated, meant for an obtuse audience. The delivery... she has one of the worst lines I've ever heard, and chooses to vocalise in the ugliest vowels. She does have an excellent diction though.

[fierysensual]

Xuhinea

You are talking above your head ... tempo is the conductor's area ... Damrau may have the better German and acting (although a bit high strung) ... but Popp is vocally way better than Damrau ... Popp's coloratura is more accurate, notes purer, better legato & lyricism ... Popp's interpretation and fach is what Mozart wrote ... Xuhinea read Mozart's score!!!

[Xuhinea]

You are very fiery but not at all sensual.

You did not understand my comment. Aggression seems to be your sole argument. What a pity.

So much for sharing thoughts in YouTube...

[fierysensual]

Xuhinea

You are indeed way above your head!!! You need to be musically literate to go into that. However I agree nobody could and should question anyone else's TASTE no matter how crappy others see it. It's your taste, end of discussion. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this case "ear". But when you go into "technical speak" then you are fair game. IGNORANCE is no excuse!!!

[Xuhinea]

This is a remarkable version and I thank leoperarm for it but...

I still prefer Wilma Lipp's version in Salzburg in 1950 conducted by Furtwangler for two reasons:

1) Like Streich and Dessay she is more in character. I am not an expert but the Queen's character should reflect sadness, anger and mother's tenderness. Mozart genius managed to put all that in the score. The soprano has somehow to identify that and reflect it in her performance. For me, Popp didn't.

2) The tempo is a bit slower.

[izarob]

Diana Damrau is without doubt a superb actress, but vocally the best Queens of the Night have been Lucia Popp, Rita Streich or Luciana Serra; and today, Natalie Dessay and Sumi Jo.

[monpitt500]

To babs22h You have never heard Popp live to say that!!! Just forget about Damrau. They aren't even in the same league

[monpitt500]

The greatest and my favourite..I fell in love with her some 40 years ago

[fissionesque]

Well, it's pretty hard to complete with Lucia Popp in the first place. People like her rarely come around more than once in a century.

[DoryViolet]

Popp is vocally better than Damrau, but a worse actress.

I also like Dessay's Queen. The 3 of them are superb in different ways!

[Habrolissimo]

There have many good Queens, but nobody has ever sung it better than Lucia Popp. It's not just the unparalleled accuracy of the colorature, it's also the great beauty of the voice, here as in everything she sang.

[izarob]

Damrau may be the best Queen of the night as actress, and I thing so, but vocally she wanted to demonstrate she could do it, and of course she did, but she is actually not among the bests.

[wallfass]

sorry, her voice might be nice, but i could not understand a word! that´s why damrau is my favorite, cause she sings proper german.

[vanzofaust]

Popp's German is perfectly understandable.

[yodavidnavarro]

I think Popp is undoubtly on of top 5 coloraturas ever!

[inekrator]

surely a matter of taste. but i REALLY like this one. precise, effortless, no shitting around. coming close to being perfect.

[DoryViolet]

SO precise and pure!!!!!! that's wonderful!

At her best both as the queen and as Pamina.

[brentiqua]

Much much more beautiful than Diana Damrau's version.

[Babs22h]

i would say so too but I think in terms of SINGING the characters intentions AND acting a song damrau has Popp BEAT BY A LONG SHOT.

[brentiqua]

Yeah... as far as acting goes Damrau is better, but i think Popp is better vocally.

[77Opera]

Simply beautiful as it could only bring Lucia. Thank you leoperarm.

[leoperarm]

you're welcome ;-)

[LeonoraPasiniani]

J,ai adore Lucia Popp!!! C,est un voix du angel!

[emarkov]

and the music writen by another angel :) (Mozart) the greatest :)

[bm1729]

Lucia Popp is wonderful

.

I saw an ordinary version at the ENO in the Coliseum about 2000. Tamino was Ian Bostridge, so wonderful, but all in all ordinary and Sarastrro was terrible.

Then Cara O'Sullivan, no actress, short and sturdy, to sing as Queen of the Night. There was not an atom of emotion in her performance, but she hit every note in O Zittre Nicht.

After she hit those notes (forget Flores' vulgar high C's) our Irish applause exploded.

I've also seen here in Don Giovanni.

[masterka]

this is delightful

[Dogaradodia]

Certified Intergalactic!

[forallyouknow]

Klemperer was a genius. The way he brought out the percussion while the violins played on top of it really underscores the duplicitous nature of the aria, with the Queen deceiving Tamino. And there is something about the way Popp produces the notes that is exceedingly pure, her attacks pristine and meaningful.

[nclysander]

I once checked this recording out from my local library, and while on the way home played this aria on the car stereo. My mother (a trained mezzo-soprano) was wowed by Lucia's voice, musicality, agility and HIGH NOTES! "I can never understand how they do that," she said, and just then Lucia popped out the brightest little high F ever sung. We couldn't help but laugh. Amazing stuff.

[abeleveh]

Cualquier silencio preciso llenarlo con su voz. Ella me enseñó a amar la musica y ahora estará sobre los ángeles, dando gloria al Eterno.

[Babs22h]

i think emi has such wonderful recordings they seem to set the standard in terms of all around great versions of operatic repetoire... i notice with others the instrumentalists are iffy or the singers are iffy or the conductor is iffy... but the fidelio under emi with ludwig is fab... would love to get this and others

[TrebleB4Mi]

I really like this conductor's choice of tempo with this and the queen of the night aria. Many others would take a much faster tempo which can make the aria's seem frantic and ruin the legato, lyricism, and drama. Lucia was a true master as well!

[Azdaean]

Impossibly beautiful, the best Queen of the Night interpretation ever. Cold and distant and ethereal at the same time.

[MusicismyheartXO]

you can hear every single note during the coloratura passage, and she makes it sound so easy to sing this aria, brava!

[TheOnlyOriginalKebim]

Really! Well, this actually is clear, 'cause she's more lyrical. For dramatics it is difficult to sing that florid passages. But she does a mistake with text-distribution. The f''' and some tones before already belongs to the "ewig", but she's still singing "auf". ;)

[tneprescintr]

True... this is the first thing i noticed... even though i prefer dramatic coloratura...

[TheOnlyOriginalKebim]

like me (:

[Tigermuc]

Such a wonderful clear voice which we have lost too early!

[wironalga]

The mighty, and never quite pleasant with collegues, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf cried out "You are a sensation my dear!" I don't think any other word or comment is necessary... Lucia is the queen in heaven for ever and ever

[Tigermuc]

wow, what a precise estimation!

[juankmilo1980curro]

She looked and sounded like an angel. But angels don't belong here...They're in heaven!

[leoperarm]

For sure! Nice comment!

[DivaSoprano]

From what I've heard, Lucia Popp is THE BEST Queen of the Night I've EVER heard. Sensational.

[neronnenn]

La vera tessitura della Regina della Notte è un'altra, soprano drammatico di coloratura, non certo la voce della brava Popova ( e bella...)

[blichilde]

chi per esempio? La Callas?

[neronnenn]

Ad esempio Syvia Geszty...Callas non era una mozartiana.

[blichilde]

Né sarebbe stato per lei possibile esserlo.I pezzi mozartiani che ho sentito cantati da lei allegano i denti,la sua voce era decisamente inadatta.

[leoperarm]

The queen of the night was written for soprano, Josefa Hofer. Mozart wrote the concert aria 'Schon lacht der holde frühling' also to be sang by her, and the tessitura of that aria is clearly a light coloratra (Popp)

The queen of the Night is supposed to be dramatic coloratura beacuse of the character itself and it's strenght, the¿re you have Damrau and Moser, for example ;)))

[neronnenn]

I agree. But the "character" of a role, I suppose, can be very important...

[TheOnlyOriginalKebim]

I've read somewhere, that Hofer was able to do both, dramatic and lyric colaratura stuff.

[blichilde]

nobody was batter or even equal in this role.

Lucia is in our hearts forever,like the other Lucia,the fantastic Valentini Terrani,who had the same destiny,at the same age.

[gibraltarrr]

i love love her in this role, and the only other person i love equally as much is Roberta Peters

[Brownmuscle2007]

she sung this famous role (qofthenight) for many years as well as other coloratura roles. Later in the her career her voice changed and she sang other roles as you can find here on this board and elsewhere

[Dogaradodia]

Lucia Popp forever! Wonderful orchestration! I can hear the basses at the beginning.

[Goethefemme]

I bought this recording when I was a child. It has been long lost. My first and favorite recording of this role to which I compare others in my head. Thank you for posting this. May she rest in peace and be remembered forever.

[lotus49a]

I am also a great admirer of both Lucia Popp and Diana Damrau. I have been listening to their respective recordings of Der Hölle Rache. They are both superb. Popp's voice is more agile but I think that Damrau sounded more vengeful and angry.

[lagnaha]

Bellatrix58

I believe it was cancer

[leoperarm]

Brain Cancer, poor Lucia.

[Nachtgreifvogel]

I love the lyric voice of Lucia Popp, my favorite Queen of Night.

[laraineannebarker]

Mine too. But one day I hope to hear her equal. I heard that when she recorded this her mouth was still numb from a dental injection, but that might be just a myth. After all, Popp is definitely a Legend! :-)

[samuelchau]

That is not a myth, she said it herself in the interview with Alan Blyth in the Opera magasin.

[kachzvi18]

Simply outstanding, the trills and notes perfectly projected and controlled.

[latraviata1853]

I find it odd that this is the only coloratura role she ever recorded - and it's the highest one.

[nclysander]

She recorded several other coloratura roles - Gilda, Amina, Norina, Adele, as well as the live Cleopatra. I'm pretty sure there are others too.

[Brownmuscle2007]

This is pure heaven. I have the recording conducted by Otto Klemperer and Lucia Popp as the Queen. She is my favorite,the purity and clarity,and ease of her voice! No doubt she is what Mozart had in mind to sing these arias!

[tania240680]

una cantante exquisita, de verda no me canso de escucharla

[leoperarm]

Muy cierto, GRACIAS!!!

[leoperarm]

Really, she was a great singer, for me, she is among the best coloraturas, with Diana Damrau, Edda Moser, and Edita Gruberova.

THANK YOU FOR COMMENTING!

[drdre333]

Always a favourite of mine. Many thanks.

[lagnaha]

Splendid singing. Such a pity she died so young

[bellatrix58]

What did she die of?

I mean her physical body, because her spirit

still remains...

[nicevidbro]

thank you very very very very much! i was expecting for this aria sung by her! been waiting for months!!!! love yaaaaaaa!!

[Flurina1246]

Thanks so much for posting, I've always wanted to hear her sing this aria!

[Glenmed]

Brilliant music and brilliant performance by the young Lucia. What a cast for this recording of the Magic Flute. Many thanks for this.

[135yearswaiting]

It would be impossible to assemble a cast like this nowadays there is just not the quality or depth around.