DIE KÖNIGIN DER NACHT
“Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung,
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen,
Sarastro Todesschmerzen,
So bist Du meine Tochter nimmermehr!
So bist Du meine Tochter nimmermehr!
Meine Tochter nimmermehr!
So bist Du meine Tochter nimmermehr!
Verstoßen sei auf ewig, verlassen sei auf ewig,
Zertrümmert sei’n auf ewig alle Bande der Natur,
Verstoßen, verlassen, zertrümmert,
Alle Bande der Natur.
Alle Bande, alle Bande der Natur.
Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört! Hört! Hört! Rachegötter! Hört der Mutter Schwur!”
– “Der Hölle Rache” The Queen of the Night, known in German as Die Königin der Nacht, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, first performance on September 30, 1791 at the Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, Austria.
English Translation
THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
The vengeance of Hell boils in my heart,
Death and despair,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not feel through you
The pain of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore!
Then you will be my daughter nevermore!
My daughter nevermore!
Then you will be my daughter nevermore!
Disowned may you be forever, abandoned may you be forever,
Destroyed be forever all the bonds of nature,
Disowned, abandoned, destroyed,
All the bonds of nature.
All the bonds, all the bonds of nature.
If not through you Sarastro becomes pale!
Hear! Hear! Hear! Gods of Vengeance! Hear a mother’s vow!
Here is my second submission for Brenda’s aka 100millionPOINTS’ 5000-Point Contest. This time Brenda is in the role of the Queen of the Night from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, known in German as Die Zauberflöte. I think I found my recurring theme before the contest deadline where I place Brenda in some of my most favourite characters in the dramatic coloratura soprano repertoire of opera. Be it by Mozart, Meyerbeer, Halévy, Gounod, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Glinka, Offenbach, Boito or Puccini, the operatic possibilities are absolutely endless at least until October 23. Regardless, I am really enjoying myself placing Brenda in different costumes in some of my favourite opera characters in the dramatic coloratura soprano repertoire, as in the type of roles that require huge, dramatic yet flexibly agile and piercingly incisive singing.
Fun fact, ladies, gentlemen, and opera fans from all over the world, “Der Hölle Rache” or the Queen of the Night’s second-act aria from Mozart’s Zauberflöte has always been my go-to jam ever since I was a fifteen-year-old high-schooler, although my deeply meaningful passion for this coloratura soprano aria stems back to when I was a lot younger. Every day after school, I would go on to YouTube or listen to whatever CD had this aria in its tracks and listen to “Der Hölle Rache” non-stop to the point where it has become my greatest earworm ever. I still do to this day as an adult, although I am a whole lot more choosy as to which type of coloratura soprano touches the entirety of the Queen of the Night. I do enjoy Erna Berger, Lea Piltti, Miliza Korjus, Sari Barabas, Wilma Lipp, Gisela Vivarelli, Bogna Sokorska, Gianna d’Angelo, Roberta Peters, Ingeborg Hallstein, Luciana Serra, Edita Gruberova, Sylvia Greenberg, Elisabeth Vidal, Sumi Jo, Cornelia Götz, Natalie Dessay, Andrea Frei, Erika Miklosa, Diana Damrau, Kerstin Avemo, Lyubov Petrova, and Jana Sibera as the Queen of the Night. However, this role is truly for a dramatic coloratura soprano, let alone a coloratura soprano with a sizeable timbre, with my reigning favourites being Antonina Nezhdanova, Frieda Hempel, Melitta Heim, Maria Stader, Serafima Dineva, Rae Woodland, Colette Lorand, Jutta Vulpius, Cristina Deutekom, Christiane Eda-Pierre, Sylvia Geszty, Rita Shane, Edda Moser, Urszula Koszut, Tatiana Sterling, Karin Ott, Venceslava Hruba-Freiberger, Sally Wolf, Wendy Waller, Hellen Kwon, Elena Mosuc, Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, Svetlana Nikitenko, Klara Kolonits, Aline Kutan, Aleksandra Kurzak, Ana Durlovski, Jessica Pratt, Albina Shagimuratova, Hulkar Sabirova, Jana Srejma-Kacirkova, and Kathryn Lewek. I also adore Kathleen Casello, Claudia Kunz-Eisenlohr, and Laura Aikin as the Queen of the Night, but I cannot find any recordings of their renditions of this iconic aria.
I know there is nothing amusing about a raging anti-heroine/villainess such as the Queen of the Night singing about how much fury she has against her rival, Sarastro sung by a basso profondo, all because, after her unseen husband’s death, he was entrusted with the Sevenfold Circle of the Sun instead of her and that she is a woman who could not be trusted by Sarastro’s brotherhood, thus vociferously coaxing her own daughter, Pamina sung by either a lyric coloratura soprano or a light lyric soprano, to kill Sarastro in order to attain power that she thought was rightfully hers. So much for attempting to manipulate Tamino sung by a lyric tenor into overcoming Sarastro to suit her want for power, until he learned the truth behind the fabrication. At least listeners can take comfort in the fact that Mozart wrote the most challenging yet compellingly rewarding music for a dramatic coloratura soprano such as the Queen of the Night. With that said, I hope you all enjoy fifteen of my most favourite interpreters of “Der Hölle Rache” in the forms of Serafima Dineva, Rae Woodland, Colette Lorand, Cristina Deutekom, Sylvia Geszty, Edda Moser, Urszula Koszut, Tatiana Sterling, Venceslava Hruba-Freiberger, Sally Wolf, Hellen Kwon, Elena Mosuc, Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, Svetlana Nikitenko, and Klara Kolonits.
Serafima Dineva (in Bulgarian)
Rae Woodland
Colette Lorand
Cristina Deutekom
Sylvia Geszty
Edda Moser
Urszula Koszut
Tatiana Sterling
Venceslava Hruba-Freiberger
Sally Wolf
Hellen Kwon
Elena Mosuc
Anna-Kristiina Kaappola (in Finnish)
Svetlana Nikitenko (aria starts at 02:19)
Klara Kolonits (in Hungarian)
I hope you all enjoyed these favourite interpretations of “Der Hölle Rache” to accompany this piece of fan art I drew involving Brenda donning the Queen of the Night’s garb, and I shall see you in the next submission. Take care, stay safe, and never ever get on your mother’s bad side, everybody, especially if she has magical powers of the night, or she shall threaten you with her stratospheric high notes.
Brenda belongs to 100millionPOINTS.
