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However, such criticisms are not only anachronistic, but rather ignore the subtleties of Mozart's musical characterization that defy such stereotypes. The Queen of the Night, though coldly dismissed by Sarastro as a "proud wench" (''ein stolzes Weib''), is blessed with some of Mozart's best music (including the rage aria "Der Hölle Rache," a notoriously difficult and thrilling showpiece), while Sarastro's paternalistic pronouncements about a woman's "proper place" are not dignified with any music at all. Monostatos is also given sympathetic treatment elsewhere; while he is punished by Sarastro for his lack of self-control, his laments about receiving only ridicule based purely on the color of his skin could have been written in the 1960's.

However, such criticisms are not only anachronistic, but rather ignore the subtleties of Mozart's musical characterization that defy such stereotypes. The Queen of the Night, though coldly dismissed by Sarastro as a "proud wench" (''ein stolzes Weib''), is blessed with some of Mozart's best music (including the rage aria "Der Hölle Rache," a notoriously difficult and thrilling showpiece), while Sarastro's paternalistic pronouncements about a woman's "proper place" are not dignified with any music at all. Monostatos is also given sympathetic treatment elsewhere; while he is punished by Sarastro for his lack of self-control, his laments about receiving only ridicule based purely on the color of his skin could have been written in the 1960's.

[[Category:Operas]]

[[Category:Operas]]

[[Category:Classical Works]]

[[Category:Classical Works]]