'Lied der Lulu' A. Berg Da-yung Cho

Lulu's Aira from A. Berg's 'Lulu' Lulu‘s husband Dr. Schön, who has had an affair with her since he took her in as a 12-year-old selling flowers on the street, is now handing her a revolver to kill herself. Lulu sings the 'Lied der Lulu', saying that if he had to sacrifice the time of his old age for her, he is responsible for taking away her whole youth. And that she never pretended to be anything else than what she is. Wenn sich die Menschen um meinetwillen umgebracht haben, so setzt das meinen Wert nicht herab. Du hast so gut gewußt, weswegen du mich zur Frau nahmst, wie ich gewußt habe, weswegen ich dich zum Mann nahm. Du hattest deine besten Freunde mit mir betrogen. Du konntest nicht gut auch noch dich selber mit mir betrügen. Wenn du mir deinen Lebensabend zum Opfer bringst, so hast du meine ganze Jugend dafür gehabt. Ich habe nie in der Welt etwas anderes scheinen wollen, als wofür man mich genommen hat. Und man hat mich nie in der Welt für etwas anderes genommen, als was ich bin. English Translation If people have killed themselves for my sake, that does not diminish my value. You knew so well why you took me as your wife, as I have known why I took you as my husband. You had betrayed your best friends with me. You couldn't as well cheat yourself with me. If you say you sacrificed the twilight of your life for me, you should know that you had my whole youth for it. I never in the world, have pretended to be anything else than what I was taken for. And one never took me for anything else in the world, than what I am. Piano: Lisa Gonnella Recording: Rebekka Homburg, Jeremias Thiele August 2020, Vienna