Mozart
Queen of the Night Aria from “The Magic Flute”
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.