Korngold, Erich Wolfgang: Mariettas Lied

Marietta’s Lied “Glück, das mir verblieb” from the opera Die tote Stadt is one of the most popular soprano arias of the 20th century. Its sensual, dreamlike atmosphere drenched with a yearning for love allows a beautiful submerged world to resurface before its listeners, and the tender soaring cantilena continues to seduce audiences the world over. In the opera, this vocal scene is actually a duet between the unhappy widower Paul and the attractive Marietta. In Paul’s eyes, Marietta gradually takes on an ever closer resemblance to his deceased wife Marie against the morbid background of Bruges; the figures of the two women merge fatally with each other in the duet.