First (extremely demanding) aria of the Queen of the Night from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die Zauberflöte Cheryl Studer, soprano - Queen of the Night Sir Neville Marriner
Absolutely SUPERB! A true Lyric-Dramatic-Coloratura -- a rare and wonderful combnation n the world of opera. Not since Sutherland ... and THIS voice is brighter, purer, and Studer sings with keener untelligence and greater affect than the beloved Austrialian diva.
I prefer the ladies to say "sie kommt, sie kommt, sie kommt" before the introduction to the aria starts. Brilliant sung though and at a well chosen tempo.
Agreed on both points. That introduction is a brilliant piece of entrance music. I might have bought the set some day, and then would have hated it for this mistake. Studer sings the aria wonderfully, as a dramatic soprano. Coming from an earlier generation, I didn't get to know Studer; she sang everything in sight and, I guess, burned out. Is that correct?
Pretty much. She was on track to enter hochdramatisch territory when the voice gave out. Her Eva in the Sawallisch Meistersinger is a collection of grunts, yelps and shrieks. Also, her coloratura recital on EMI has some of the most train-whistle-sounding top notes ever emitted from a human throat. The Gardiner Merry Widow is also pretty dire. Lilli Lehmann was the only soprano to sing such a broad range (170 roles) while keeping her voice virtually unimpaired right up into her sixties.
