Thursday, May 02, 2013

Korngold

Today I am discovering this aria by Erich Korngold.  How did I miss this? 

This one by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is amazing.  Listen to them all and find your favorite. 

Glück, das mir verblieb,
rück zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Abend sinkt im Hag
bist mir Licht und Tag.
Bange pochet Herz an Herz
Hoffnung schwingt sich himmelwärts.

Wie wahr, ein traurig Lied.
Das Lied vom treuen Lieb,
das sterben muss.

Ich kenne das Lied.
Ich hört es oft in jungen,
in schöneren Tagen.
Es hat noch eine Strophe--
weiß ich sie noch?

Naht auch Sorge trüb,
rück zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Neig dein blaß Gesicht
Sterben trennt uns nicht.
Mußt du einmal von mir gehn,
glaub, es gibt ein Auferstehn.

P.S.  I have seen Die tote Stadt--it was done in San Francisco in 2008--and wrote about it here and here.  In the second essay I tried to explain why it isn't very popular.  This time it was this particular ecstatic performance that attracted me.  When I post something with Elisabeth, it usually disappears.

3 comments:

Paul said...

This aria from "Die Tote Stadt" makes fairly regular appearances at voice competitions. Most require singers to choose five arias showcasing three different languages, and it's an ideal selection for women wanting to pick a piece in German that's neither Wagner, Strauss or Mozart. The other aria from this opera that gets a lot of attention is for baritone. What a shame the opera itself doesn't get performed much at all (nor does Korngold's other work, "Violanta").

Dr.B said...

Yes. If you're a lyric soprano, Wagner is too heavy, Mozart is mostly in Italian and Strauss is too talky for an audition. I don't really go to voice competitions.

Alexandra said...

You can hear the "Tanzlied" from "Die Todt Stadt" in a clip over on Jessica Duchen's blog. I hadn't heard it before and am fascinated by this clip of it's being sung by a Pierrot character who is not identified in a production that is likewise not identified.