[Opera Aria] Diana Damrau - Mozart - Queen of the Night aria (The Magic Flute, The Royal Opera)
youtu.be
Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Soprano: Diana Damrau
Aria: Der Hölle Rache
The Royal Opera
Comment
This is perhaps the most iconic of of this piece on Youtube recently. See another dramatic voice performance by Edda Moser at: https://youtu.be/ZNEOl4bcfkc
I think her acting choices are great and her vocal quality is unbelievable, but I've never really been able to deal with how sluggish Damrau can sound singing this aria. It leaves the realm of interpretation and starts sounding like she's dragging behind the orchestra.
The orchestra follows her lead, not the other way around.
I'm aware of how accompaniment works, but a full orchestra can only follow a person so much. They try to match her overall tempo, and it's pretty spot on during the coloratura passages, but her constant back-phrasing during the rest makes it sound like she's dragging behind the orchestra.
Compare this to a performance where she takes it at a slightly slower tempo, and she's much more in time with the orchestra. Granted, I think it's a worse performance than the OP, but it's hard to look menacing when you look like kale. 🥬🥬🥬
This is the best version of this song I've ever seen. Not only is she singing near flawlessly, but her acting really elevates the performance to another level entirely. Magnificent!