I like opera, and have since childhood. Sure I enjoy a good pop song or Sinatra, metal or contemporary, and even some country if it isn’t twangy or hokey (and if it’s Willie Nelson I have to be in a certain frame of mind to not want to change the station), but classical is the foundation for so much of what we experience musically today, many people don’t know how much opera they actually know.
Some of the best pieces in opera are used in commercials and movies, and many people don’t even know it. It can be fun to sit in a darkened theater and say to yourself, “Yup, that’s Delibes,” and smile.
So why is Volvo keeping their recent opera commercial so low-keyed and mysterious? To promote its XC Range vehicles, the car company features an opera singer named Emily Cheung to perform (what I feel is) one of Mozart’s most challenging arias from The Magic Flute, known as the “Queen of the Night Aria” for quick reference*, the piece is better known (as in many operas) by its first words, “Der Hölle Rache” (loosely translated as the wrath of Hell).
It’s an interesting choice of aria, as it demands a high soprano range and full command of coloratura (which is best defined as musically turning a stick drawing into a Monet). Ms. Cheung certainly has what it takes to perform the piece, and in terms of a car company wanting to stress its class, control and quality, an aria makes a fine metaphor.
In actual performance, however, the character the Queen of the Night demands that her daughter ensure the death of a main character or be disowned, and it is sung with some motherly vehemence as a result. The ad elects to use it in a more intimate setting, so the drama is tuned down. When one is used to hearing an over-the-top queenly mother figure going all bitchy on her own daughter, this interpretation falls flat. It’s not the performer’s fault, but some other choice of aria might have been better.
I have a car I like, so it won’t encourage me to buy a Volvo, but at least I can listen to it and smile. Yup, that’s Mozart.
*(Actually the opera features two arias from the Queen of the Night, but this second one is given the recognition.)
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