Richard Wagner - Song to the Evening Star (Wolfram’s aria from Tannhauser, act 3, scene 2)

Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone

Like a portent of death, twilight shrouds the earth
and envelops the valley in its sable robe;
the soul, that yearns for those heights,
dreads to take its dark and awful flight.
There you shine, o fairest of the stars,
and shed your gentle light from afar;
your friendly beam penetrates the twilight gloom
and points the way out from the valley.

O my fair evening star,
I always gladly greeted thee:
from a heart that never betrayed its faith
greet her when she passes,
when she soars above this mortal vale
to become a blessed angel in heaven!

 (German original)