In quelle trine morbide from Manon Lescaut (1893)

The second act of Manon Lescaut – an opera set in Paris a century earlier than La Rondine – finds the eponymous heroine comfortably but unhappily ensconced in the luxurious house of her rich old Geronte. Her aria In quelle trine morbide reflects the anguish she feels after she has left her younger but poorer lover Des Grieux for the extravagant way of life she has chosen to live at the expense of old Geronte. In her present loveless situation she recalls the humble home she shared with Des Grieux, which now seems “like a sweet dream of peace and love.”