Queen of the Night, your majesty, thank you for taking some time to have this coffee with OPERA Charm Magazine and its readers! It’s very kind of you! Tell us about your youth and your family. Where were you born?

I was born in a place on the Moon with a beautiful view of the Earth. People there sleep during the day and wake up at night. I never met my father, but I remember my mother being a very strong woman. In the place where I come from, only women are allowed to become leaders, and we all long for power.

You intentionally chose Tamino to save your daughter, but was her kidnapping an act of revenge? What were the characteristics that you saw in this young man when you decided to trust him with your daughter’s life?

I was sure when my husband died that, I would inherit his Power. When this didn’t happen, I had no choice but to kidnap my daughter. I chose Tamino for his nobility, kindness and termination. His characteristics were very close to my daughter’s, and in that way, I knew that she would immediately trust him.

Do you think the love between parents and children nowadays is as profound as in your times? Is this the purest form of love, in your opinion?

In my opinion, the purest form of love is love for yourself. And please… Don’t get me wrong… it’s not egoistic to love yourself. If people could love themselves properly, this planet would not have wars. I never learned it from my parents, and I am proud of being taught by my daughter and son-in-law. I only knew love in the form of power, but now I understand that this is not the case.

Happy endings are the best, aren’t they? What happened after the end of your staged story? Has Pamina lived happily ever after with Tamino? Have you found love, meanwhile? 

I don’t know what love is. It’s the most important thing on this planet. I try to understand it through my daughter and son-in-law. Love leads their lives, and they are very happy indeed. They have beautiful kids and have dedicated their lives to the prosperity of humanity. I am condemned to live forever in the coldness of my heart, unable to love and be loved.

Do you consider yourself a good or a mean character in the story?

Of course, I’m a good character. Everything I do, I do It because of love. But if you ask me what love is, that’s another question.

But how about your three ladies?

Oh… They are so loyal to me! Do you know how I chose them? I was using the birds I commissioned Papagena to check the loyalty of my team. I would put the birds inside a box in my room and leave the room, telling the person not to open the box. If they opened it in my absence, the birds would fly away, and in that way, I could check a person’s loyalty and add it to my team.

Your story is performed on stages all over the world, Queen. What’s the moral that the public should understand from it? What’s the most charming feature of your story?

I may be the Queen of the Night, but I’m also a woman that needs respect to grow. I now understand that I didn’t fairly assert this right. We all need to realise that where someone’s freedom begins, someone else’s freedom ends and the opposite. As I said before, Love is the most important thing in life, and without it, you are condemned to always live in fear.