As many of you may know, I am a professional opera singer.
Yes, it's true.
My most recent role is Mozart's famous Queen of the Night. On the one hand, this role is a coloratura's dream. She sings two of the most challenging arias written for our Fach, and the character is very complex. The challenge lies in the fact that she has but three short entrances in which she must prove all of her pudding. The sprint to the runner's marathon, so to speak.
If a singer is lucky enough to be able to sing the Queen, she is often cast in this role more than any other -- this can be a curse as well as a blessing. Although we are thankful for having work, we crave a bit more more variety. The struggles that the Queen herself endures become apparent in the offstage persona. A blurry line between good and evil, love and hate.
