In my professional life these days, as my readers probably know, I am usually wearing two hats – if not at times three! This week, my attention was mainly taken with the Milwaukee Symphony/Florentine Opera performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. We are finishing up our third performance of the run today. This opera has long been one of my favorites. It is hard to imagine music more perfectly composed. I don’t know why the music at the entrance of the three little spirits always moves me to tears, why the bells of the glockenspiel cheer me up, and why the famous Queen of the Night aria never fails to bring me chills, but I know that I will always love and be inspired by the musical score.
My design for the hair ornament above was inspired by the Queen of the Night character. The moonstone and black and white pearls symbolize the coolness and femininity of the moon amid the stars of the heavens. The serpentine twists of metal and blood red of the ruby show the darker, more evil side of her character.
For those of you not sure you want to purchase an entire opera to hear the Queen of the Night’s most famous aria, I recommend renting the wonderful Milos Forman movie Amadeus. If you are an opera buff, Amazon has many excellent recordings of The Magic Flute from which to choose.
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