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These pages contain program notes written for Redwood
Symphony. You are free to use the information in your own program
notes. If you quote me directly, please attribute it. Thanks!
These notes were edited, amended, and otherwise
improved by Eric Kujawsky, Peter Stahl, and Doug Wyatt.
Barbara Heninger
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"Queen of the Night" aria, from Die Zauberflöte
The libretto for Mozart's operetta Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) is
filled with surprises and reversals on every side. Although the hero, Tamino, is
sent by the Queen of the Night on a journey to rescue her beautiful daughter
Pamina, he soon learns that her captor Sarastro is not an evil sorcerer but a
noble wise man who intends to lead the couple to enlightenment. (One might
observe that Sarastro's methods, which include a number of trials intended to
divert the lovers from the true path, don't seem to differ much from the
subterfuge of the Queen.) Both Mozart and the librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder,
were Masons, and the operetta is full of Masonic symbols representing the
triumph of light over darkness.
Mozart wrote the fabulist piece in 1791 (the last year of his life) for the
Theater auf der Wieden, which catered to a more populist audience than the
nearby Vienna halls. The Queen's very classically-styled part in Zauberflöte
contrasts with those of the other characters, which are much more
folk-influenced. Perhaps Mozart knew that his less polished audience would
associate the "high art" style of the Queen with a threatening
influence. The so-called "Queen of the Night" aria, Der Hölle Rache
(The Revenge of Hell), takes place when the Queen discovers that both Tamino and
her daughter Pamina have been converted to the philosophy of their captor. The
Queen vows revenge on her daughter and Sarastro in this coloratura aria, which
requires a voice able to soar stratospherically.
February, 2006
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