Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

From The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart


"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" ("Hell's vengeance boils in my heart"), commonly abbreviated Der Hölle Rache, is the second aria sung by the Queen of the Night, a soprano coloratura part, in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). It is considered to be one of the most famous opera arias, highly memorable, fast paced and menacingly grandiose. It is often referred to as the Queen of the Night Aria despite the fact that the Queen of the Night character sings another distinguished aria earlier in the opera, "O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn".

The aria forms part of the second act of the opera. It depicts a fit of vengeful rage, in which the Queen of the Night places a knife into the hand of her daughter Pamina and exhorts her to assassinate Sarastro, the Queen's rival, on pain of denying and cursing Pamina if she does not comply.

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