#human voice

Another fascinating fact? The hormone testosterone elongates the vocal cords, which leads to a deeper — and sometimes squeaky — voice during puberty.

MOZART’S “QUEEN OF THE NIGHT”

Following yesterday’s Lacrimosa I thought of posting a different sound culled from the treasure chest of Mozart’s genius. Here’s Diana Damrau singing Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” aria from his opera The Magic Flute.

As one of the comments attached to the video says:  “I don’t know which is more amazing, that a human being could conceive of and write this, or that any other human being could perform it.”

if you’re wondering what she is saying, here are the here are the lyrics in German:

Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro
Todesschmerzen,
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr.
Verstossen sei auf ewig,
Verlassen sei auf ewig,
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Wenn nicht durch dich!
Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Rachegötter,
Hört der Mutter Schwur!

And here they are in English:

The vengeance of Hell boils in my heart,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not through you feel
The pain of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore.
Disowned may you be forever,
Abandoned may you be forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature,
If not through you
Sarastro becomes pale!
Hear, Gods of Revenge,
Hear a mother’s oath!

To give some context to her anger, the aria comes at a moment in the opera when the Queen’s power and position is threatened by the sorcerer Sarastro, whose brotherhood her daughter Pamina is thinking about joining.