Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Soprano: Diana Damrau
Aria: Der Hölle Rache
The Royal Opera
Comment
This is perhaps the most iconic of of this piece on Youtube recently. See another dramatic voice performance by Edda Moser at: https://youtu.be/ZNEOl4bcfkc
The orchestra follows her lead, not the other way around.
I’m aware of how accompaniment works, but a full orchestra can only follow a person so much. They try to match her overall tempo, and it’s pretty spot on during the coloratura passages, but her constant back-phrasing during the rest makes it sound like she’s dragging behind the orchestra.
Compare this to a performance where she takes it at a slightly slower tempo, and she’s much more in time with the orchestra. Granted, I think it’s a worse performance than the OP, but it’s hard to look menacing when you look like kale. 🥬🥬🥬