Ambroise Thomas was born in Metz, France, on August 5, 1811. Between
1828 and 1832 he attended the Paris Conservatory where he won numerous
prizes including the Prix de Rome. After his three-year stay in Rome,
where he wrote some orchestral and chamber music, he returned to Paris
in 1836 and devoted himself to writing operas. The first was _La double
échelle_, produced at the Opéra-Comique in 1837. His first success was
realized in 1843 with _Mina_, and in 1866 the opera by which he is
remembered, _Mignon_, was triumphantly introduced at the Opéra-Comique.
Later operas included _Hamlet_ (1868) and _Françoise de Rimini_ (1882).
In 1851, Thomas was elected member of the French Academy. In 1871 he was
appointed director of the Paris Conservatory, and in 1894 he was the
recipient of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. He died in Paris on
February 12, 1896.
_Mignon_ represents the French lyric theater at its best, with its
graceful melodies, charming moods, and courtly grace of style. Its world
première took place at the Opéra-Comique on November 17, 1866. In less
than a century it was given over two thousand performances by that
company besides becoming a staple in the repertory of opera houses the
world over. The opera is based on Goethe’s novel, _Wilhelm Meister_,
adapted by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. Mignon is a gypsy girl
purchased by Wilhelm Meister. She falls in love with him and is
heartbroken to discover how he is attracted to the actress, Philine. She
tells the demented Lothario of her sorrow and of her wish that Meister’s
castle be burned to the ground. Lothario then proceeds to set Meister’s
castle aflame. Mignon, caught therein, is saved by Meister and then
gently nursed back to health. Meister now realizes he is in love with
her and her alone. When the demented Lothario regains his sanity we
learn that Mignon is in actuality his daughter and that the castle he
has burned is not Meister’s but his own.
Parts of this opera are better known than the whole, and through these
parts _Mignon_ remains deservedly popular on semi-classical programs.
The Overture makes extended use of two of the opera’s main melodies. The
first is “_Connais-tu le pays_,” (“_Knowest Thou the Land?_”), Mignon’s
poignant first-act aria in which she recalls her childhood in some
distant land; the melody is given in the wind instruments after a brief
introduction. The second aria is Philine’s polonaise, “_Je suis
Titania_” (“_I am Titania_”) from the second scene of the second act.
Another delightful orchestral episode from this opera is a suave,
graceful little gavotte heard as entr’acte music just before the rise of
the second-act curtain.
The _Raymond_ Overture is even more popular than that to _Mignon_.
_Raymond_ was first performed at the Opéra-Comique on June 5, 1851. The
overture opens with a spirited section punctuated with dashing chords. A
serene transition, highlighted by a passage for solo cello, brings on a
light, tuneful air in the violins against sharply accented plucked
strings; a graceful countermelody for the woodwind follows. This
appealing material is repeated at some length with embellishments and
amplifications until a new thought is asserted: a brisk, march-like
melody that slowly gains in sonority and tempo until a climactic point
is reached in which this march melody is forcefully given by the full
orchestra. The strings then offer a sentimental melody by way of
temporary relief. But the overture ends in a dramatic and spirited mood
with a finale statement of the march tune.