Today I got Waltraud Meier's DVD "I follow a voice within me". It's a very interesting documentary about this great German mezzosoprano. Among the most interesting excerpts were Highlights of a Walkuere in Bayreuth with none other than Placido Domingo as Siegmund (I believe that was 1993).
Incredibly moving and depressing was a Liederabend also included in the DVD. Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde" which never fails to move me almost to tears. How else could it be when you have lines like:
2.- Der Einsame im Herbst
...
Mein Herz ist müde.
Meine kleine Lampe Erlosch mit Knistern;
es gemahnt mich an den Schlaf.
Ich komm zu dir, traute Ruhestätte!
Ja, gib mir Ruh, ich hab Erquickung not!
Ich weine viel in meinen Einsamkeiten.
Der Herbst in meinem Herzen währt zu lange.
Sonne der Liebe, willst du nie mehr scheinen,
Um meine bittern Tränen mild aufzutrocknen
After this, one just wants to go somewhere and meditate about life, death and everything in between.
Irony, anger, sadness, desperation, resignation they are all well represented in Mahler's song cycle.
How fitting it was to end the day with something like that...