Queen of the Night: Your favourite?
Posted by: kuma on 27 August 2013
Mrs. XXX FTW! 
Richard,
Who needs an auto tune when you've got the confidence and sheer determination. 
Remember Florence Foster Jenkins? (She sold out the tickets at the Carnegie.)
According to Wikipedia she was known for her lack of rhythm, pitch, and tone; her aberrant pronunciation; and her generally poor singing ability.
I think she belongs in the 'it's-so-bad,-it's-great' category.
I agree that miklosa is lovely but I like the laser pitch of Diana Damrau and her Cruella like costume and make up.
Richard,
Who needs an auto tune when you've got the confidence and sheer determination.
Remember Florence Foster Jenkins? (She sold out the tickets at the Carnegie.)
According to Wikipedia she was known for her lack of rhythm, pitch, and tone; her aberrant pronunciation; and her generally poor singing ability.
I think she belongs in the 'it's-so-bad,-it's-great' category.
I agree that miklosa is lovely but I like the laser pitch of Diana Damrau and her Cruella like costume and make up.
Many thanks for posting this Kuma. I can feel myself welling up...
Kevin,
the difference is that both Jenkins or Mrs. XXX were both serious!
I'm not sure that Leona wasn't! 
Have you heard Madame St Onge? Her rather, er, relaxed, attitude to the niceties of pitch, tempo and the like make for some truly horrible listening.
Im somewhat surprised that most of them intonate at least one or two of the high staccato notes wrongly - at least to my ears. But I suppose that's one of the main difficulties. Also the synchronization between orchestra and soprano is not always successful, an example being during the first 8 staccato C's of Gruberova's rendition. I think its quite obviously the fault of the conductor who wasn't following Gruberova's flexible singing leading up to the staccatos. After those first 8 all is dead on though. She's definitely one of my favourites, I especially like the expression either side of the staccatos and the natural integration of those staccatos. Here's an early interpretation by 24 year old Gruberova with piano accompaniment. I could be wrong, but to me it sounds as if she was concentrating mainly on getting her technique spot on during the difficult parts, which was probably the right thing to do at that young age. Once the technique is fully mastered, spontaneity and musicality can take over. So in her later interpretation in your compilation the staccatos fit in seamlessly in a natural way.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hhoFfNS36yA
Here a year earlier with orchestra, from about 1:00 into the video, but please also listen to the first song, sung when she was 19 - really beautiful singing
. :http://youtube.com/watch?v=ALHjHTPAAto
PureReader,
I have notited the synchro problem with Gruberova segment but I found her voice too thin for my taste and her delivery is a tad hurried.
My first exposure to the Queen of the Night Aria was from the Milos Forman's Amadeus sung by June Anderson. Wolfy's evil nagging mother-in-law turns into the Queen of the Night.
Edda Moser.
EJ,
She's got a beautiful voice which is well extended and articulate.
Perhaps too pretty for the Queen of the Night!?
I'll keep my eyes open for her vinyl, tho.
EJ,
She's got a beautiful voice which is well extended and articulate.
Perhaps too pretty for the Queen of the Night!?
I'll keep my eyes open for her vinyl, tho.
Kuma, don't forget the context: Pamino actually believes she is a good queen, before Sarastro informs him otherwise. In the 18th century, 'night' wasn't a sign for bad, but the fact that the queen is a woman should have had us doubting her from the start, as Sarastro implies. The plot is a mess to be honest, by far the most inconsistent that Mozart ever penned music to.
Anyway, Moser was a dramatic coloratura - far from the whistle sopranos that normally tackle the role. Look for her complete studio recording with Sawallish, also from early 70s - it is magnificent.
Cheers,
EJ