Mignon (opera)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mignon |
| Original title: | Mignon |
| Shape: | Opéra-comique |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Ambroise Thomas |
| Libretto : | Jules Barbier and Michel Carré |
| Literary source: | Wilhelm Meister's apprenticeship from Goethe |
| Premiere: | November 17, 1866 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Germany and Italy around 1790 |
| people | |
Mignon is an opera in three acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas . The libretto was written by Jules Barbier and his permanent collaborator Michel Carré . They used a small part from the second book of the novel Wilhelm Meister Lehrjahre by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as a template . It premiered on November 17, 1866 at the Paris Opéra-Comique .
action
The first two acts are set in Germany and the third in Italy around 1790.
first act
A group of gypsies and a theater company have gathered in the courtyard of an inn in a small German town. Jarno, the leader of the gypsies, wants to force the lovely girl Mignon to dance in front of the guests, but she is reluctant. When Jarno then tries to get his way through with the help of cane blows, the old traveling singer Lothario intervenes, who makes a rather confused impression on everyone. He has been looking for his daughter Sperata for a long time, who was stolen from him as a child. Even Wilhelm Meister, a young man from Vienna who is passing through, does not leave the scene untouched. He cannot get rid of the feeling that the girl is not voluntarily with the gypsies. That's why he slips Jarno a large sum of money so that this Mignon gives freedom. When Wilhelm Meister asked where her homeland was, Mignon replied metaphorically that she came from the country where the lemons bloom, which suggests Italy. Out of gratitude, the girl - disguised as a page - wants to move on with Wilhelm Meister. He gladly accepts the proposal. The theater troupe asks the two of them to go to the nearby castle, where an engagement is waiting for them. Wilhelm Meister and Mignon will not be asked to do this a second time. The traveling singer Lothario also joins them.
Second act
Mignon secretly adores Wilhelm Meister and believes that he too is in love with her. But when she notices that he has a crush on the flighty actress Philine, her heart breaks. Out of desperation, she wants to take her own life, but the singer Lothario can prevent this at the last second. After Mignon has complained of her suffering, the old man is angry. He's so confused again that he sets the lock on fire.
Philine is also jealous - of Mignon! She asks the young girl to go to the castle to fetch the bouquet that she received from Wilhelm Meister. When Mignon has entered the castle, the flames start to beat around wildly. Wilhelm Meister boldly throws himself into the fire and saves Mignon. Now he realizes his real feelings for the girl.
Third act
Lothario and Wilhelm Meister traveled to Italy with Mignon, where they found accommodation in a magnificent villa. Here they want to nurse the girl who was badly injured by the fire, healthy. Wilhelm Meister learns from the old servant Antonio that the palace has been abandoned for many years and should be sold. When Wilhelm Meister told Lothario this customer and mentioned the name of the previous owner, Count Cypriani, it fell like scales from the traveling singer: he himself is the owner! Suddenly his senses become clear again.
When Wilhelm and Mignon confess their love for each other, they hear Philine's Titanialied in the distance. Jealousy seizes Mignon again and it falls silent. Lothario or Count Cypriani gives the girl a box with jewelry and a prayer book so that the little one feels better again. As she then takes a closer look at the contents of the box, the memory also returns to her: This is the house in which she spent her childhood, and Count Cypriani is her father! They both embrace happily. But the joy is not enough: Wilhelm and Mignon confess their love again.
(The happy ending is missing in a later version: Mignon suffers a heart attack and dies in Wilhelm Meister's arms.)
music
instrumentation
- Wind instruments: 2 flutes (2nd also piccolo), 2 oboes , 2 clarinets , 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 3 trombones ,
- Percussion: timpani , triangle , tambourine , cymbals , bass drum , harp
- Strings: violins , violas , cellos , double basses
- Incidental music: harp
Numbers
Two musical numbers dominate the opera as absolute highlights and can already be heard in the overture: Mignon's melancholy romance in the first act Connais-tu le pays , German text based on Goethe:
Do you know the land where the lemons bloom?
The golden oranges glow in the dark foliage,
A gentle wind blows from the blue sky,
The myrtle stands still and the laurel stands high?
Do you know it? There, there
I would like to move with you, O my beloved.
and Philine's polonaise aria in the second act, in which the singer can shine with her coloratura Je suis Titania, German:
Titania has come down,
The fairy of the air from the blue cloud seat,
If you want to fly through the world laughing,
Faster than the bird,
Faster than lightning.
Both arias resound in the third act.
World premieres
| role | Pitch | First performance November 17, 1866 |
Second version July 5, 1870 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mignon |
1866: mezzo-soprano 1870: soprano |
Celestine Galli-Marié |
Christina Nilsson |
| Philine, actress | soprano | Marie Cabel | Elisa Volpini |
| Wilhelm Meister, student | tenor | Léon Achard | Alessandro Bettini |
| Frédéric, Philine's admirer |
1866: tenor 1870: alt |
Bernard Voisy |
Zelia Trebelli-Bettini |
| Laerte, actor | tenor | Joseph-Antoine-Charles Couderc | Edouard Gassier |
| Lothario, traveling singer | bass | Eugène Bataille | Jean-Baptiste Faure |
| Jarno, leader of a gypsy gang | bass | François Bernard | Signor Raguer |
| Antonio, servant | bass | Davoust | Giovanni Volpini (?) |
| Choir: gypsies, actors, guests, people | |||
| conductor | Théophile Tilmant | Luigi Arditi | |
reception
That as opéra-comique , d. H. Conceived as a conversational opera with spoken dialogue, it was very successful and at the turn of the century (around 1900) had a high impact on Mignon's image. In addition to the numerous picture postcards , roll photos ( e.g. Reta Walter as Mignon) and the Mignon pralines from the chocolate factory David & Söhne AG contributed to popularization . The pralines are on sale there again today. While the German audience reacted with great reserve to the opera and the finale had to be rewritten, the work at the kk Hofoperntheater in Vienna enjoyed great popularity. Chamber singer Gustav Walter , who described Wilhelm Meister as his favorite role, sang it 105 times and chose it as a farewell performance after thirty years at the Vienna Court Opera.
Sound carrier
- CD of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (1996) - Highlights in German with Irmgard Seefried , Catherine Gayer, Ernst Haefliger and Kieth Engen in the leading roles. The Orchester des Concerts Lamoureux will play under the baton of Jean Fournet.
- Double CD by PREISER (2003) - complete recording in French with Geneviève Moizan, Janine Micheau, Libero de Luca and René Bianco in the leading roles. The Orchester National de Belgique will play under the direction of George Sebastian.
- Sony 1977 - Complete recording in French with Marilyn Horne (Mignon), Ruth Welting (Philine), Frederica von Stade (Frédéric), Alain Vanzo (Wilhelm Meister), Nicola Zaccaria (Lothario), Ambrosian Opera Chorus , Philharmonia Orchestra under Antonio de Almeida (CD 2009)
Web links
- Mignon : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Plot and libretto by Mignon (Opera) on Opera-Guide landing page not available due to URL change
- Work data for Mignon based on MGG with discography at Operone