Cyndia Sieden does high operatic coloratura "yodeling"

THE SONGBIRD: Cyndia Sieden was born Cyndia Siedentop in California in 1961. As a teenager, she was a concert soloist in Seattle and appeared with the Seattle Opera as the Forest Bird in 1980, as well as being the Pacific Northwest regional winner of the Met Auditions in 1981. Back in California, Sieden began taking private lessons with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in 1982, through which was she invited to the Salzburg Mozarteum, winning first place in 1983. Her European debut role was Rosina in Munich; her American debut in a leading role came in 1984 as Marie in Tampa. Sieden built an impressive international career in a wide range of baroque, classical, and modern works in the world's top opera houses and festivals.
THE MUSIC: "Arabella" was the sixth and final operatic collaboration between Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It's a lyric comedy of manners that premiered in Dresden in 1933. It's often produced to showcase a glamorous star lyric soprano in the title role. Arabella's tomboy sister, Zdenka, is the second largest female role, written for a light lyric soprano. There is one other role for a soprano that is a flashy cameo: Fiakermilli is the mascot of the ball in Act Two. It's generally thought of as one of opera's more thankless roles for soprano because she is really nothing more than a minor plot device who sings about five minutes of music in total, which consists of awkward extreme coloratura vocal lines and high notes Strauss created to give an impression of yodeling. She appears at an elegant ball, but she is usually dressed in a equestrian costume - and she is groped by the obnoxious baritone lead, Mandryka. Hence, the thankless reputation. The role is often assigned to a young up-and-coming coloratura soprano on the company's roster. Here is Fiakermilli's short solo aria/song directed to the attendees at the ball, "Die Wiener Herrn."