Re: Queen of the Night Aria by Bessie Abbott 1907
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:40 am
Outside the German=speaking countries, Mozart's German operas were generally sung in Italian until little more than a century ago; Die Entführung became Il Seraglio and Die Zauberflöte was rendered as Il Flauto Magico. The Queen of the Night was even given an Italian name, Astrofiammante, a translation of the adjective sternflammende ('star-flaming') which is applied to her in the original libretto (where she has no name as such).
Abbott transposes what should have been her last note up an octave, as does Sembrich in one of the Mapleson cylinders. I say 'what should have been' because Abbott sings something (unwritten by Mozart) along with the last two notes of the orchestral postlude. I hope this at least was not common practice; at any rate I have not heard anyone else do it.
Oliver Mundy.
Abbott transposes what should have been her last note up an octave, as does Sembrich in one of the Mapleson cylinders. I say 'what should have been' because Abbott sings something (unwritten by Mozart) along with the last two notes of the orchestral postlude. I hope this at least was not common practice; at any rate I have not heard anyone else do it.
Oliver Mundy.