Imagine being so disgusted with yourself, with the wrongs you've done, that it is like a sickness, a putrefaction in your very bones ("...Als ein Eiter in Gebeinen..."). What do you do, how do you escape? You can't escape yourself. You have to find a way to forgiveness or live in suffering and self-loathing.
I doubt there's ever been a more touching expression of the torment of regret than this aria. The aria is obviously religious, but the universal message is that the very sincere self-loathing and sorrow expressed is the key to redemption, because it is only through honest repentance of a misdeed that we can ever be relied upon not to repeat it and to repair any damage we've done, if possible, which is the only ethical path to self-forgiveness. The agony is the way out of agony.
The equally talented and pretty soprano Magdalena Kozená imparts this message so touchingly here, without making it pathetic or maudlin. She makes you want to forgive her everything she's ever done, including that time she totaled your car and then had the gall to sleep with the tow truck driver who hauled your car to the junk yard!
After you watch this, be sure to watch the other Kozená video I have here.
Liebster Gott, erbarme dich, Laß mir Trost und Gnad ercheinen! Meine Sünden kränken mich Als ein Eiter in Gebeinen, Hilf mir, Jesu, Gottes Lamm, Ich versink im tiefen Schlamm! | Dearest God, Have mercy on me, Grant me solace and grace. My sins sicken me Like a pus in my bones! Help me, Jesus, Lamb of God, I am sinking deep in mire. |
No comments:
Post a Comment