Composer Thomas Adès ' opera"The Exterminating Angel,“based upon the surrrealist1962 Luis Buñuel filmof the same name about a dinner party at which the guests mysteriously are unable to leave , is trippy in a lot of ways . There ’s a view , for example , in which the captives pick up a lamb and roast it over a splintered cello , as thisNew York magazine reviewdetails . But one minute near the beginning of the two - hour performance is getting a slew of attention . It ’s when sopranoAudrey Lunahits an A above high coke , which turns out to be the highest note of hand ever sung onstage in the history of the Metropolitan Opera . From CBC Radio , here ’s anaudio clipof how it sound :
TheNew York Timesreported that the note sung by Luna top the previous record of an A - flat above C , sing by Rachele Gilmore in a 2009 Met performance of composer Jacques Offenbach ’s " Les Contes d’Hoffman . " Gilmore ’s feat was remarkable because she was an standby pressed into service with only a few hours ' notice . Here ’s a video of six different sopranos performing the parcel of the opera with that note :
Adès told the Times that his inclusion of the A above high C is n’t just a stunt . Instead , he described it as a metaphor , signifying the power of the case to pass the psychological bound that have develop between them .
Luna ’s outspoken feat draw in international attending . BBC Newsobserved that the note she sings is a full musical octave — eight notes — above the highest note in the Christmas Christmas carol " Hark ! The Herald Angels Sing . "
Luna tell CBC Radio that she was incognizant that she had attain a record eminent annotation , until opera house archivists inform her about the feat . She say that she had believe , wrong , that great soprano of previous eras had hit such gamey notes routinely .
