Mozart's Volvo commercial

[UTUSN]

So the famous aria in the Volvo commercial I knew was MOZART, which is "Der Holle Rache" (Hell's Revenge) from The Magic Flute. Here Diana DAMRAU (besides the one in the commercial) is completely incredibly fantastic. That high note is somewhere above high C.

So it turns out the weirdo story in this aria is the mother/Queen of the Night, threatening her daughter about getting rid of some dude named Sarastro, under pain of the daughter's being disinherited and who-knows-what-else FOREVER, including a DAGGER in the threat.

The Comments in the YouTube post are HILARIOUS:

"I have a complicated relationship with my mother as well. ... This is how my mom yells at me when I don't do the dishes. ... When your mom's yelling at you and all you can do is sit there and cry. ... Alright alright, Jesus mom, I'll kill Sarastro tomorrow. ... The top note is F6. Good GOD. ... Unbelievable voice & emotion but I still think the Mom needs therapy. ... I don't know what language this is, but her daughter definitely forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer before she got home from work. ... When I failed every test and my mom finds out. ... For some reason I feel like purchasing a Volvo."

[elleng]

1. The Mom DEFINITELY needs therapy!!!

[UTUSN]

2. Happy birthday next Feb. 4!1

[elleng]

3. THANKS, UTU!!! We'll party, right???

[UTUSN]

6. Well, if you don't keep stepping on my toes in GD!1

[elleng]

7. OH, U, I NEVER mean to do that!!!

[UTUSN]

9. All good. I'll let you know!1

[CTyankee]

4. I find the Queen of the Night piece to be disturbing. Mozart could be so lovely andthis thing

is really distturbing. Maybe they want it this way...I dunno...

[UTUSN]

5. Not the music ("disturbing"), correct?

I always say, music/melody above all else, never the lyrics. Once melody hooks me enough, curiousity might get me to take the step to check out the words, but if there is not the melody to start with there is nothing for me. Lord Chesterfield said, "What is too silly to be *said* is SUNG." It helps in this case that I'm ignorant of the language!1

[CTyankee]

12. No. Listen to it. Those high notes seem like screams to me...

And Mozart can be so soothing to me...

[UTUSN]

13. I'll grant that I can't take Mozart's choruses of chirruping sopranos but

this is other than those. I don't look to music for utilitarian purposes (to soothe me, theapize me, martialize me, etc.), it's own thing without words and anything else.

Plus not all or many melodies draw me, just the tiny few.

[fierywoman]

8. Have you seen Milos Forman's "Amadeus"? He juxtaposes this aria with Mozart's mother-in-law

yelling at him.
It's a disturbing piece so what made the ad agency think it would provoke people to buy their product?

Other strange music to sell things by: the use of the Dies Irae (wrath of God) from Verdi's Requiem.

The opening of Carmina Burana, "O Fortuna" (oh fate...)

[UTUSN]

10. Saw it back then but so long ago & didn't get deep into it. The Dies Irae is

fantastic in Symphonie Fantastique but I'm superstitious and think I have bad luck after hearing it!1

ON EDIT: Whups, thought you were posting me!1

[fierywoman]

11. (no prob!) (I personally find Dies Iraes to be very cathartic, especially the Verdi!)

[CTyankee]

14. OMG, I saw "Amadeus" years ago. Wonderful movie...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. One of my all-time favorites.

Salieri didn't really murder Mozart, but it's a great movie anyhow. You can't go wrong with that sound track.