Does Mozart sell cars?

[CTyankee]

Volvo has a commercial now featuring the Queen of the Night aria by Mozart from his opera "The Magic Flute." See here

I find it amazing that Volvo would use this piece of music. It sounds harsh, angry and a bit crazy to people who don't know its context.

Is that the purpose of Volvo? Does it feel only people well educated in the arts buy Volvos?

I know the source and have seen the opera. Still, I think it feels odd to the ear to find it in a commercial for selling cars...

[d_r]

1. I don't know, I think it might be the opposite

if you know the magic flute then you know the queen of the night was angry but if you just hear the music it might not sound angry just powerful, and I think powerful is what volvo is going for. But I don't know.

[CTyankee]

3. That is an interesting take! And a powerful woman...

appealing to feminists perhaps?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. The Queen of the Night *is* angry and crazy.

She is the villain in The Magic Flute. I don't know why they used the aria in a car commercial, except maybe because it's flashy and virtuosic and hardly anybody can sing it. So maybe the subtext is that the Volvo is the car for virtuosos?

[CTyankee]

4. I know the opera. So when I first heard it I thought how odd it is and wouldn't it deter people

from thinking about buying it? But, then, they are Swedish so that may be a cultural thing...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I like the opera so much that it made me like Volvos more.

I don't see how it detracts from the ad at all; it just adds a bit of extra flashiness.

[CTyankee]

6. Oh, me too. I have had Volvos before and really liked them.

But I'll prolly never own a car again. We are leasing...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. If owning a Volvo would make me be able to *sing* the aria,

I'd go out and buy one tomorrow. For singers, being able to perform that aria is the equivalent of pitching for the Yankees in the World Series. I suppose I could sing it while driving around in my Volvo with the windows up so nobody could hear me...

[CTyankee]

8. You might get pulled over and that would take some 'splainin'" to do!

"you see, officer, I was just singing the "Queen of the Night" aria. Are you familiar with the opera "The Magic Flute?" by Mozart?" It's about this fantasy but really about Enlightenment ideals..."

You might get a breathalizer test at that point...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. LOL!