Volvo "Fit for an aria" commercial

[TomSlick]

OK, I can't stand it anymore and must say this somewhere.

Volvo is running an ad for their "fit for an aria" autos. There is a pretty soprano singing nicely.

The problem is that the aria is from Mozart's The Magic Flute. The character is the Queen of the Night - not a nice person. She is demanding her daughter commit murder or be disowned. So, do the folks at the Volvo ad agency not know the source of the aria or are they assuming the rest of us do not?

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[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The Queen of the Night was the arch-villain in The Magic Flute, and

she was definitely evil. But she had a lot of flash and attitude, and maybe that's what Volvo was looking for.

[question everything]

2. Don't care. One of the most beautiful and known arias

Unless one sees a performance where the characters are spiders.... Ughh

I saw the Ingmar Bergman movie in 1978, and the Kenneth Branagh 2006 version taking place during WW1 both fascinating.

[Lefta Dissenter]

3. LOL,

I was just thinking about what a poor advertising target I am because I “sing” along with that ad, but have never paid enough attention to know what they’re advertising. I guess that comes from having the tv on while I’m doing other things. I rarely just sit down to watch tv.

[TygrBright]

4. It's also considered one of the most difficult, demanding arias to deliver.

Sopranos who can reliably perform it on the live stage for a regular performance run are never out of work. It's one of the two or three top achievements in the coloratura repertoire, so possibly they're going for the excellence association.

speculatively,
Bright

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. That could be part of it, at least if they are targeting people who are familiar

with the aria and know how difficult it is. Being able to sing it in performance is the musical equivalent of pitching for the Yankees in the World Series.

[tanyev]

6. Wow! Who is that? She's amazing.

I always mute the commercials so Volvo's use of this aria would be completely lost on me.

[3catwoman3]

7. I am not at all knowledgable about opera, nor a fan, so this was...

...interesting to learn about.

The young lady is quite lovely, the dress is gorgeous, and her voice sounds sweet and true to my ear. I find many sopranos sound rather screechy, which is why am not a devotee.

[lillypaddle]

8. Seems pretty clear

you know, the knife and all? I'm sure they know, but chose it anyway for the beauty of the aria.

[SCantiGOP]

9. Thank you for this

This is one of the few commercials that I will either mute or hit altchannel when it comes on. It irritates the shit out of me, even though I love the Mozart piece that it is taken from.
Liberty Insurance (a bunch of assholes who prey on people with bad driving records with overpriced crappy car insurance) and anything with Flo the insurance lady also gets the silent treatment.

[UTUSN]

10. When the ad started, it led me to track down what your O.P. says, up to the same YouTube and diva

Last edited Thu May 16, 2019, 02:19 PM - Edit history (2)

The magnificent diva in the o.p. is Diana DAMRAU.

It's one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever, and proves my long held point:

That *MUSIC/MELODY* is what matters, NOT lyrics.

Somebody here took issue with me, citing "Imagine" as having wonderful lyrics, with which I agree. But you can take any melody, from best to worst, and tag it with a different set of lyrics that fit the meter and the melody is what it is. All ya gotta do is to take "Imagine" and stick random or obnoxious or nonsensical sounds to the melody and voila point made.

Btw, no less than Lenny BERNSTEIN has a Young People's Concert where he makes this point, playing samples of great melodies on the piano and singing weird, stupid, or ugly lyrics to them. And then there's Lord CHESTERFIELD, who said, "What is too silly to be *said* is *SUNG*!1"

*******That said, when there is a truly great song (starting with the MELODY), it is a perfect match of melody and great lyrics, but the melody is always the thing, the lyrics living up to the melody.

So, yea, the aria's lyrics are grotesque. Luckily I don't grok that language (German?) and can glory in the music and the diva without having to worry about it, since I have plenty more to worry about, specifically here the singer's vocal chords!1

P.S., "pretty soprano singing nicely" is one of the great understatements of all time!1 Here's Ms Emily CHEUNG:

[samnsara]

11. Im sure the latter...

...i love to listen to that commercial. That one and the Mazda commercial with the red balloon. I heard that one when i got the phone call my dad passed...almost exactly one year after mom passed. I like to think mom and dad are that age again on some grand adventure together..with a red balloon.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. The lyrics:

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!

Hell's vengeance boils in my heart,
Death and despair blaze about me!
If Sarastro does not, through you, feel the pains of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore:

Disowned be you forever,
Abandoned be you forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature.

If not through you Sarastro will turn pale!
Hear, gods of revenge, hear the mother's oath!!

Makes you want to run out and get a Volvo, maybe to run over somebody?