Kathryn Lewek - "Der Hölle Rache" ("Die Zauberflöte" at Aix-en-Provence, 2014)

[@b.d6642]

Can we just talk about the fact that she's singing one of the hardest arias while using a wheelchair! This woman is a gift to the world of opera

[@death2pc]

@KLGoodman She could be Russian, Ukrainian or even Hungarian................... But she's American. I'll remind her of that next time I see her.

[@lauramaniscalco7742]

The usual director's follies! They don't worry about creating ever greater obstacles for the singers just to appear original in some way

[@caseyglick5957]

Somehow, she manages to put more menace and rage into it from a wheelchair than I've seen from even Diana Damrau. Truly my favorite performance. Also, she just slams those notes doesn't she...

[@MTtheBiased]

Three things stood out to me about this performance. Kathryn isn't just squeaking out the high Fs but hitting them full voiced which I feel gives this aria an added fury that I feel so many other interpretations lack. Number two, she's performing this aria in a wheelchair and for the most part sitting down which is not an easy task and speaks volumes about her abilities as a singer. Number three, the fact that she's portraying the Queen of the Night as an old, wheelchair bound woman who no doubt is on the very fringes of her now waning power (Reminding me almost of Fiona Goode from American Horror Story; Coven as she begins losing her powers) which is in contrast to many other interpretations of the role who portray her as a vengeful almighty powerful force of darkness.

[@tbmalik9544]

Ever since I heard this rendition, every other lyric coloratura who sings this aria and squeaks out the High Fs like a Catholic cathedral choir soloist simply doesn't come close. This aria needs fire, fury and vengeance and Lewek absolutely brings it!

[@albertoalvez8940]

It has been the first time I witnessed Ms. Kathryn Lewek's performance as the Queen of the Night. I have seen many singers in masterfully crafted costumes on flabbergasting stages. The characterolgy presented in this performance truly reveals the innermost of the Queen's soul: bitterness, cruelty, madness and else. While other singers contrast this spiritual stage against beautiful couture fancy dresses, Ms. Lewek translates those feelings into the body of a disabled woman submerged into a desperate impotence materialized perhaps in the wheelchair and the use of the stick showing her constraints of movement and liberty as well, leading her to decadance and subsequently decline. The only "nice" thing in the scene is her imperious, powerful, outstanding voice. Another contrast, a terrific mesmerizing one.

[@Ha-ppi-ness]

Saw her on the MET this week and I'm her new fan. Such a distinct performance from Diana Damrau. She mentioned, this is not the shinning queen of the night but a last sorrow from a queen being displaced by patriarchy (Saratros et al).

[@stefanwild326]

How utterly exciting Queen of the Night meets Baba Yaga meets Japanese horror movie 😱 (I usually don't like when directors request physical stunts from singers during major arias, but in this case it actually brought so much to the scene that I cannot be mad at them)

[@BellaCroyda]

LOLOL

[@nattie-k8380]

Phenomenal lady! ❤️Goosebumps. She knows what Sturm und Drang is!

[@s.m.732]

Literally the best interpretation I’ve ever heard

[@oscargr_]

I have never felt more the pain of the mother who has no choice but to threaten her daughter's destruction for the sake of her kingdom.

[@freshname]

It just can't be better than that

[@gpeddino]

The sequence starting 3:09 actually gave me goosebumps. Brava!

[@jjlungdoc7472]

Her Majesty Queen Kathryn!

[@MMotta-mk8uq]

Cantar essa famosa ária com perfeição, não é para qualquer cantora; e cantar sentada?! Impressionante!

[@МорфейМутноночный]

It's most emotional "der holle rache" I'v ever heard.😍

[@1P0T]

This is amazing.

[@ecoibis]

Wooooooooooooow... Bravissima!!! Attitudine stupenda

[@movoo6077]

Mad respect..... 👏👏👏👏

[@JuttaSpickenbaum]

Great performance 🤩

[@BellaCroyda]

OMGOSH!!! FROM A WHEELCHAIR YET!!!! I LOVE IT!!! If that was my mom I'd RUN!!!

[@1y167]

Impressive ! And beatiful.

[@carlfranzensvocalstudio9826]

Magnificent

[@dividednations44]

This rendition is incredible, the darkness and the wheelchair and the restrained gesticulation by the queen unify in creating an extremely oppressive and melancholic atmosphere. she is like an abandoned animal turned into a feral monster, writhing in agony and wallowing in anger in its cave. you are forced to feel pity.

[@jonathanfinney7821]

Stunning.

[@luzbel5508]

diana damrau sorry but, she is good too jajaja 2 queens of the night 🥰 2:46 this is hypnotic

[@MMotta-mk8uq]

Maravilhosa!

[@yulimau253]

Qué hermosa presentación !!! Excelente voz e interpretación 😮🤩🤩🤩💯🎵🎶🎵🎶

[@garburolak]

MAGISTRAL

[@sandorvarga2860]

This lady deserves a Nobel! Himmel! She does all this from s whealchair! Who was the "director" comming up with an idea like that? Poor Qieen! Than again, she rendeted this aria like few have ever! She is a DIVA!

[@Callitroga]

El de la Paz, como corresponde a la maldad y crueldad de la Reina de la Noche, hace tiempo que estamos en 1984...

[@randyhelzerman]

This is the fleeciest flex that every was flexed.

[@daeunkim9951]

Super

[@fernandoleitao4469]

Awesome!

[@MonnaLuisa]

grande artista, davvero. Non so cosa penserebbe Mozart di una simile regia....A kind of artist indeed. Who knows about Mozart on such a scenography....

[@vivianbelissima]

Bravissima

[@ariseaman390]

I have to say no. The directors are thinking that everything has to be something NEW and FABULOUS! It doesn't work that way. Just keep the thing in the context of the era when it was composed. And more importantly, remember what the story is about. Period.

[@draganvidic2039]

Like the singing is not enough, this woman also handles a wheelchair...

[@MegaPrincessbear]

Fantastic in every way but for me it’s the grace notes!!! Adds that extra level psycho!!

[@Woodsmoke22]

Brava!

[@carlaceciliasilva8737]

Sensacional

[@jamesmayo8881]

SING!!!! Sitting in a wheelchair -- singing for full and free -- high Fs! Let's talk about it. Clearly, she understood the assignment. SING YE ALL OF IT! 🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿

[@talkingtadpole3001]

Technically high Es because the orchestra is using Baroque tuning for some reason. She mentioned in an interview somewhere that this production was so difficult because she had to retrain her larnyx's muscle memory to fit the new key.

[@eridonstewart9973]

Not my favorite version of this song but definitely my favorite lighting out of maybe any production ever. It’s so perfectly gothic.

[@drnivek]

Saw this last night at the Met's 1st performance of this production. She sang less cleanly but with more convincing rage and a quieter, more controlled burning anger at "hört der Mutter Schwur". While the vocals were a little disappointing, last night was dramatically better, IMHO.

[@ThomasDawkins88]

Sitting in a wheelchair, she still manages all of the coloratura and actually SINGS the top Fs instead of squeaking them.

[@despoinagreen9440]

great

[@Kenzie_G_A-12]

2:32

[@gabitunschel690]

Mozart würde sich im Grabe umdrehen, wenn er diese Düstenis und erst recht diese Gestalten ansehen müsste. Aber diese Inszenierung passt genau zu unserer heutigen Zeit. Trotzdem kann all das für mich so Fuchtbare Mozart`s wundervolle Musik und deren ebenso wundervolle Interpretation nicht zerstören.

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

Soon at Liceu BCN.

[@LYBASHA]

Whatever happened to Baby Jane - if Betty Davis had been an opera singer!

[@80Mrmirko]

Un colore scuro per un personaggio oscuro, un lato ultraterreno, insieme all’altro lato che la rende debole come qualsiasi umano. Una interpretazione la me meglio riuscite. Questa donna è una delle po he speranze che rimangono nell’opera oggi

[@christinec.6685]

That's a big coloratura voice.

[@Leanrosso]

🎉❤ AN APT HOMAGE TO WAGNERIAN AUSTRALIAN SOPRANO MARJORIE LAWRENCE🎉❤ BRAVA, KATHRYN.

[@MaxMax007]

Маломобильная царица дала жару конечно, филигранно!

[@ChupeTTe]

They see her rolling and hatin

[@oscargr_]

I am no expert in music. Can anyone tell me there is a special sound that American sopranos have compared to European sopranos? Compare this performance with Damrau or Serra. Then, compare the performance of 'erbarme dich' by (American) Forrester with (European) Hamari.

[@TamaraKoontz]

Yes, the hysteria attainable by an aging goddess.

[@patrickbridelance5815]

Mise en scène grotesque !

[@nathanberry1244]

She is very talented it seems. And especially that she can do it with a wheelchair also

[@christinec.6685]

Nice job staying in the picket with those dastardly triplets.

[@samueljaramillo4221]

I did not like this staging, though her singing is phenomenal.

[@smurf902]

Lewek is spectacular. But the production makes no sense. The queen of the night is a magical creature. She's anything but an old lady in a wheelchair, she's the complete opposite. The concept makes no sense (neither do any of the other regietheater bullshit productions)

[@oscargr_]

She is a magical creature who is losing her power. She has to threaten her daughter to kill her rival... It's more than enough to warrant the darkness.

[@wendydeng4463]

Why she’s in the wheelchair 🦼

[@death2pc]

So (that) you would ask................... ps: They also considered having her on a Harley with ape hangers, but opted for the wheelchair instead........

[@artdanks4846]

​@@death2pc The Harley would have made more sense for this character!