As a German I can confirm she spoke and sung perfectly understandable German. Very good performance!

Wow!!! Who knew Roberta Peters had it in her? A cold and collected Queen of the Night, but no less scary for it. The triple "Hört!" is impressive -- she doesn't usually sound so dramatic. And as others have mentioned, her diction is flawless -- let alone that in the flurry of triplets you can ACTUALLY HEAR EVERY NOTE, which very rarely happens! Thank you spySerse for all these wonderful videos of her!

This is the first Queen of the night I ever heard and no subsequent one has been better. Such wonderful vibrato on the highest notes. No squeaking or squealing. .

This is FAR BETTER than her studio version under Böhm. And to be honest, I've never imagined she could deliver such drammatism in her own way, given she was a lyric coloratura soprano. Thanks for this valuable document. P. S.: what the heck is up with régisseurs and costume designers????? The lady is struggling with that clumsy dress and staying in mark for the trap-door while singing one of the most difficult arias for the human voice!!! Crazy staging ideas come from very far, evidently.

Holy cow! I had no idea Roberta Peters could pull this off. Just amazing. What a fantastic performer she was. That is just beautiful.

A perfect combination of voice, technique, stage movement and dramatic ability. This shows Peters to be a very gifted and hardworking artist, who in this instance did not push her voice past what it was, but used it absolutely to best effect. A very well integrated performance, convincing enough German, though it is clear she is no native German speaker nor did she ever reside in Germany. Roberta Peters made it in opera at a very early age, 19, but obviously very much continued to work hard at her art. Most admirable and exciting performance.

Roberta Peters was born to be the Queen of Night. This goes beyond legendary. May she get these words from wherever she is.

I am speechless. Always thought Diana Damrau was the best. Definitely one of the best queens, but Ms. Peters is way up there on top of the list too.

I had never heard of her until I saw this. She is truly magnificent. What a voice!

I never realized what a deep, beautiful speaking voice Madame Peters had, and she looked stunning in that Medusa-type costume. 👏

She was one of the great sopranos of the last century, thanks you for sharing this

Just wonderful. I saw her in concert in the 60's. She was superb.

I never knew Peters sang this! She's fantastic!

One of the best versions I’ve ever listened to

She is simply impeccable! One of my favorite renditions ever!

Just brought me down to tears.

The way that she brings emotion to her character and her singing is what really makes the character come to life, or like she is the queen of the night herself

Roberta Peters is wonderful!!!!!

She was fearless - excellent staccato technique. This must have been a show stopper. Some sopranos have difficulty with staying 'angry' through the entire aria, certainly not Roberta Peters.

Their German is so clear, so well allocated that even I can understand it! AND I don't even speak german!