Peters is the Queen of Night on Karl Böhm's second Zauberflöte recording, with Fritz Wunderlich, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hans Hotter, Franz Crass and the Berlin Philharmonic.
I have the 1964 Deutsche Grammophon recording with her as the Queen of the Night! My college roommate had a girlfriend who sang this for a commencement contest right before I enrolled, and I let her borrow and listen to it.
OK! I dont speak german fluently, but in arias yes. I agree, german is interesting, when I have to sing for example Wagner's Traume, or Schubert Schoener Mulerin. I like her because I want to cut all negativity and she performed that well. Nice work of voice art. But, it is not enough to explain. OK.But devil never sleep. It is nice. But your nicely confirmation killed 8.000 000 milion of people. After that . Nothing. I was in Leipzig and it is a long time ago. So, if J.S. Bach hear of that, he will in his time compose a tragedy of german people. Because after Bach, germans learn a lot how to turn everything in the dust bean and start. In Berlin, right of the Brandenbourg, at the and of Unter den Lieden, there is a silent room. Go there, think. And than tell me what a small man as me can do. As a cricet. But as a musician I can do a lot. It depends!
Wow!!! Who knew Roberta Peters had it in her? A cold and collected Queen of the Night, but no less scary for it. The triple "Hört!" is impressive -- she doesn't usually sound so dramatic. And as others have mentioned, her diction is flawless -- let alone that in the flurry of triplets you can ACTUALLY HEAR EVERY NOTE, which very rarely happens! Thank you spySerse for all these wonderful videos of her!
She was fearless - excellent staccato technique. This must have been a show stopper. Some sopranos have difficulty with staying 'angry' through the entire aria, certainly not Roberta Peters.
The way that she brings emotion to her character and her singing is what really makes the character come to life, or like she is the queen of the night herself
One of the very best Queens of the Night - so much power and anger and venom...one can really believe that der Hölle rache in this Queen's heart! Absolutely convincing, and such power and volume at the top of the range!
As I wrote elsewhere Roberta Peters was my first Queen of the Night way back in 1967 at the Metropolitan Opera. I was too young and callow to really experience Peters's performance. Thank you for uploading this clip.
Wonderful version. It took me a while for me to figure out that those groups of high notes were supposed to be laughter. For a while, they just seemed beautiful. And then I saw a singer or two who made them almost seem like a voice weapon. However, Peters gives them a little bit of laughter body language.
This is the first Queen of the night I ever heard and no subsequent one has been better. Such wonderful vibrato on the highest notes. No squeaking or squealing. .
What an artist! Even with a potentially light soprano (but not so light, if you listen to her deep notes), she is powerful and dramatic. We may just listen and hold the breath till the end!
I was fortunate enough to see and hear one of her performances some 40 years ago and she autographed my program backstage. I was surprised to see how a woman of such diminutive size had such a powerful voice. Of course, I was young and rather uninformed back then!
A perfect combination of voice, technique, stage movement and dramatic ability. This shows Peters to be a very gifted and hardworking artist, who in this instance did not push her voice past what it was, but used it absolutely to best effect. A very well integrated performance, convincing enough German, though it is clear she is no native German speaker nor did she ever reside in Germany. Roberta Peters made it in opera at a very early age, 19, but obviously very much continued to work hard at her art. Most admirable and exciting performance.
Well the very pretty young Jewish Girl from the Bronx NY. Roberta Peterman, whose mother saw to it that she got voice lessons always from age 12 on, and at age 20 she made her opera debut at the Met, was an instant success , the family didn't have a lot of money and her teacher taught her for nearly nothing at all, knowing she was a star coming, her dad Sol Peterman was a shoe salesman, the Peterman's both worked hard helping her getting her the musical education she needed from the time she was 12 years old.
The queen of the night is one of my favorite characters of Mozart opera ! I find myself turning to this character when I feel hurt,lied to and just plain pissed! Her second aria she sings at times is the way I feel!
This is FAR BETTER than her studio version under Böhm. And to be honest, I've never imagined she could deliver such drammatism in her own way, given she was a lyric coloratura soprano. Thanks for this valuable document. P. S.: what the heck is up with régisseurs and costume designers????? The lady is struggling with that clumsy dress and staying in mark for the trap-door while singing one of the most difficult arias for the human voice!!! Crazy staging ideas come from very far, evidently.
I think her DG version directed by Böhm is also good. In the studio version, her German lyrics are elegant, but her performance is slightly more restrained. Compared with other small voices, she has a very good middle voice, although it is not wide but Very deep and colorful, can make an effect in some dramatic expressions.The styling should be based on Medusa, the hair is composed of snakes.
It amazes me how absolutely wonderful and powerful Roberta Peters was in this role! I typically prefer a heavier, darker dramatic coloratura sound, such as Edda Moser, for the Queen of the Night. But, although Roberta Peters very definitely was a lyric coloratura, she still was able to get the full forced dramatic sound needed for this dynamic role.
And 4 years later I still think this. Considering how light and "song-bird" type sound she usually had in the lighter roles, she really nailed a stronger sound in this performance!
Einfach grandios,blitzblanke Koloraturen,perfektbintoniert,dynamisch auf den Punkt,perfekte Diktion, erstaunlich gute Aussorache ohne den meist ueblichen amerikanischen Slang. Vorbildlich,wie sie Kienigin der Nacht interpretiert. Als Kollegin sage ich: bravissimo Roberta Peters....my favorite Koenigin der Nacht !!!
Never underestimate R.P. I was particularly impressed with her delivery of the passage of 1/8 note triplets towards the end of the aria--it's often sloppy rhythmically and rather dull. She does the fast grace notes cleanly that are often omitted. But not only this--her gestures, expression and movement seem totally in sync with the music, the conductor's reading of the score, etc. I recall her saying, in a Tonight Show appearance, what a difficult role this was. She realized the challenge of completely integrating the vocal virtuosity with the dramatic situation, the character, the text, and the orchestral writing.
Dang, that gave me chills at the end, after that amazing high note, then the stabby stab as she disappears below! What a performance! Thanks for posting!
Soy un ferviente aficionado del Bel Canto. No tengo estudios sobre la musica, en suma carezco de formacion musical, sin embargo esa version de "Una voce poco fa" de Roberta Peters es para mi una de las mejor logradas, sino la mejor. Si los angeles cantan las melodias mas divinas, mas grandiosas, Roberta Peters es una de esas criaturas!!!
I have never seen this difficult aria performed with such power, style, perfection, and exuberance...and I have seen dozens! What a treat! Thanks so much for sharing. The well-executed, Medusa-like headdress and goung through the floor without dangerous special effects was just frosting on the cake.
This is impressive to me, and I’m not typically impressed by most singers who attempt this song. Most people skip the legato (meaning they wobble around in it without hitting the precise notes) before the staccatos, but she actually slayed them
