Misplaced Pages

#702297

46-595: Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas ( French: [ɑ̃bʁwaz tɔmɑ] ; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas Mignon (1866) and Hamlet (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de Paris , winning France's top music prize, the Prix de Rome . He pursued a career as a composer of operas, completing his first opera, La double échelle , in 1837. He wrote twenty further operas over

92-602: A Shakespeare play – The Tempest ), but it made little impression. In 1894, after the 1,000th performance of Mignon at the Opéra-Comique, the octogenarian composer was embraced on the stage by Verdi , his junior by two years, before President Carnot decorated Thomas with the ribbon of the Grand-Croix de la Légion d'honneur . Thomas died in his flat in the Conservatoire in 1896, aged 84, of congestion of

138-512: A considerable revival, beginning in the late 20th century, with major productions of Mignon and Hamlet in France, Britain and the US. Forbes writes that Thomas was an eclectic composer able to write in a wide variety of styles. She identifies Hérold and Auber as influences on his early works, and considers Le caïd the first of his works to show true originality, though nonetheless clearly showing

184-460: A reputation for musical conservatism, the score of Hamlet was innovative in one respect: its incorporation of saxophones into the instrumentation. Later in Thomas' life his academic career largely overtook his activities as a composer, and after Hamlet , he composed only one more opera: Françoise de Rimini (1882), which was well received but did not enter the regular operatic repertoire. On

230-494: A small German town, the wandering minstrel Lothario sings and the Gypsies dance while the townspeople watch and drink. Jarno threatens Mignon with a stick when she refuses to dance, but Lothario and Wilhelm Meister come to her aid. She thanks them and divides her bouquet of wildflowers between them. Wilhelm and Laerte have a drink together. Philine and Laerte leave, after he gives her his flowers from Mignon. Mignon tells Wilhelm she

276-429: Is applauded in the conservatory. Mignon, in jealousy, shouts that she wishes the building would catch fire and runs out. Lothario hears her and moves toward the conservatory. After Mignon returns, Wilhelm receives her so warmly that Philine, now jealous, sends her to fetch the wildflowers in the conservatory. Wilhelm rushes to save Mignon from the fire that Lothario had set to please her, carrying her unconscious body out of

322-402: Is confronted by Frédéric. Mignon rushes in to break up their impending fight. Wilhelm decides that he cannot stay with Mignon and says goodbye to her. He leaves arm-in-arm with a jubilant Philine. Later, in the courtyard of the castle, Mignon is consumed by a jealous rage, when she hears Lothario playing the harp. He comforts the girl. Philine's portrayal of Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream

368-665: The Opéra .) Unsurprisingly, this "Version allemande" still failed to satisfy the German critics and proved to be a futile endeavour. As Henry Edward Krehbiel describes it, the " Mignon of Carré and Barbier bears little more than an external resemblance to the Mignon of Goethe, and to kill her is wanton cruelty." Despite his success in Paris with the French version, Thomas was asked to revise

414-473: The Drury Lane production, implying that Thomas must have orchestrated it.) The aria is known from several piano-vocal scores and is included as an appendix, sung by Ruth Welting with flute and harpsichord accompaniment, as part of the 1978 recording with Marilyn Horne as Mignon. The recording also includes a second appendix with the original, longer version of the finale. The United States premiere

460-584: The Opéra-Comique: it was another nine years before Carmen defied the convention there, ending with the death of the main character.) The strong original cast featured, in the title role, Célestine Galli-Marié , a celebrated singer who later created the part of Carmen in Bizet's opera. Thomas was similarly fortunate in his cast for his next success, Hamlet (1868), which starred Jean-Baptiste Faure as Hamlet and Christine Nilsson as Ophelia. The opera

506-424: The character of the important roles strongly and clearly. "If Thomas had written no stage works except Mignon and Hamlet he would probably be more widely recognized as one of the most influential and important of French 19th-century operatic composers." See: List of operas by Ambroise Thomas . solo voice and piano, except where otherwise stated Mignon The first performance

SECTION 10

#1732780949703

552-431: The composers Jules Massenet , Gaston Serpette , and, late in Thomas' career, George Enescu ; future academics included Théodore Dubois and Charles Lenepveu ; and conductors who were Thomas' students included Edouard Colonne and Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht . During the 1850s Thomas continued to compose, writing five operas, none of which made much impression. After a fallow spell in the early 1860s he wrote Mignon ,

598-696: The conservatory with the singed flowers still in her hand. Wilhelm has brought Mignon and Lothario to a castle in Italy which he considers buying. There an old man watches over Mignon and prays for her recovery. Antonio relates how the castle’s previous owner had gone mad after his wife had died of grief over the loss of their young daughter. Wilhelm decides to buy the castle for Mignon because it has so speeded her recovery. Mignon awakens and confesses to Wilhelm of her love for this strangely familiar place. He finally realizes that he loves her deeply and resists Philine’s attempts to win him back. Lothario re-enters and informs

644-417: The couple that he is the owner of the castle and that returning here has restored his sanity. After reading a prayer found in a book in the house, Mignon realizes that she is his daughter Sperata. The three embrace happily. Notes Sources Joseph-Bernard Rosier Joseph-Bernard Rosier (18 October 1804 – 12 October 1880) was a 19th-century French playwright and librettist . He first worked as

690-493: The curriculum. Thomas strove to keep progressive musicians from being appointed to the faculty of the Conservatoire – unsuccessfully in the case of César Franck , who was appointed against Thomas' wishes in 1872, but successfully as regards Gabriel Fauré whose appointment to the Conservatoire was delayed until after Thomas' death. Thomas was, on the other hand, innovative in the running of the Conservatoire: he increased

736-429: The end of the second act ("Je suis Titania") was insufficient, and another florid aria ("Alerte, alerte, Philine!") was inserted after the second act entr'acte and before Laerte's 6/8 Allegretto ("Rien ne vaut"). The finale was also much shortened. Philine's extra aria appears to have either never been orchestrated, or the orchestration was lost or destroyed. (Most sources say that the aria was performed and not cut from

782-426: The first act ("Fugitif et tremblant" in the French version), and in the second act, a rondo-gavotte for Frédéric ("Me voici dans son boudoir") was devised using the music of the entr'acte preceding that act, to satisfy Mme Trebelli-Bettini, who was discomfited by having to take on a role originally written for buffo tenor. Apparently, the coloratura soprano Elisa Volpini, who was to sing Philine, felt that her aria at

828-434: The flowers that she gave him in the hands of Philine. In Philine’s room in the baron's castle, Philine is elated, living in the luxury and charming the baron. Laerte is heard outside, praising Philine. Wilhelm and Mignon enter. She pretends to sleep while Wilhelm and Philine sing. When the couple leave, Mignon tries on Philine’s costumes and make-up. She is jealous and exits. Frédéric enters. When Wilhelm returns for Mignon he

874-414: The governor of "Richemont", where the action takes place. The premiere in Paris was followed by productions in many European and American theatres. The work, described by The Musical Times as "a little masterpiece", was frequently revived, but fell out of the repertory after the composer's death. Later in 1850 Thomas' next opera, Raymond , was premiered. It has not survived in the operatic repertoire, but

920-489: The head of the academy, with whom he shared an admiration for both Mozart and Beethoven ; he also met Berlioz , who encouraged him and wrote about him favourably. During his Italian sojourn he wrote chamber music – a piano trio, a string quintet and a string quartet – and a set of six songs, Souvenirs d'Italie . After leaving Rome, Thomas stayed briefly in Germany, before returning to Paris in 1835, when he began writing for

966-422: The influence of Rossini . In later works, Thomas' music could still be derivative: Forbes cites Psyché (1857) as "an inferior copy of Gounod 's Sapho " and his Le carnaval de Venise (also 1857) as imitating Victor Massé . She concludes that at his best – which he was not always – Thomas wrote delightful and individual music, was capable of orchestration that is "often quite ravishing", and musically conveyed

SECTION 20

#1732780949703

1012-478: The libretto from English-speaking critics at the time and subsequently, the work has remained an occasional part of the operatic repertoire; later singers of Ophelia included Emma Calvé , Emma Albani , Nellie Melba and Mary Garden , and among the Hamlets have been Victor Maurel , Titta Ruffo , Mattia Battistini and more recently Sherrill Milnes , Thomas Allen and Thomas Hampson . Although Thomas had by now

1058-472: The liveliest banter – would rank with the leaders of the modern school of composers; as it is, the purity and diversity of his style make him a first-rate dramatic composer. In the 2001 edition of Grove , Langham Smith writes, "In the context of French opera of the late 19th century Thomas was a figure of considerable importance, an imaginative innovator and a master of musical characterization." Langham Smith concludes that after years of neglect, Thomas' work saw

1104-402: The lungs. He was survived by his widow, Elvire, née Remaury (1827–1910), whom he married in 1878. He was succeeded as director of the Conservatoire by Dubois. Emmanuel Chabrier 's jibe, "There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas" is often quoted, but, as the musicologist Richard Langham Smith observes, it is not clear whether Chabrier meant that Thomas' music

1150-552: The next decades, mostly comic, but he also treated more serious subjects, finding considerable success with audiences in France and abroad. Thomas was appointed as a professor at the Conservatoire in 1856, and in 1871 he succeeded Daniel Auber as director. Between then and his death at his home in Paris twenty-five years later, he modernised the Conservatoire's organisation while imposing a rigidly conservative curriculum, hostile to modern music, and attempting to prevent composers such as César Franck and Gabriel Fauré from influencing

1196-450: The nineteenth century, and achieved more than four hundred performances over the next fifty years. Thomas' next work for the Opéra-Comique, Le songe d'une nuit d'été (The Summer Night's Dream, 1850), was also a popular success. The text, by Joseph-Bernard Rosier and Adolphe de Leuven , owes nothing to A Midsummer Night's Dream : Shakespeare appears as one of the characters, along with Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare's Falstaff ,

1242-530: The number of classes, improved the conditions of the faculty, and expanded the curriculum to include solfège , sight-reading and compulsory orchestral practice. The faculty under Thomas included, at various times the composers Franck, Théodore Dubois, Jules Massenet and Ernest Guiraud , and the singers Pauline Viardot and Romain Bussine . In 1889 the Opéra staged Thomas' ballet La tempête (another treatment of

1288-399: The office that if I did not nominate you I should seem to be signing your dismissal from a post already yours." As director Thomas ran an intransigently conservative regime. The music of Auber, Halévy and especially Meyerbeer was regarded as the correct model for students, and early French music such as that of Rameau and modern music, including that of Wagner were kept rigorously out of

1334-498: The opera's alterations to the Goethe original, so Thomas composed a shorter finale with a tragic ending, in which Mignon falls dead in the arms of Wilhelm. This ending was an attempt to make the story of the opera somewhat more similar in tone to the tragic outcome of Goethe's. (The original version of Mignon for the Opéra-Comique had to have a happy ending, since at that time in Paris tragic operas in French were exclusively reserved for

1380-402: The orchestra is consummate, both in grouping instruments of different timbre, and obtaining new effects of sound; but though carrying orchestral colouring to the utmost pitch of perfection, he never allows it to overpower the voices. With a little more boldness and individuality of melody this accomplished writer, artist, and poet – master of all moods and passing in turn from melancholy musings to

1426-570: The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 Thomas, though aged nearly sixty, volunteered to serve in the Garde Nationale . The following year Auber resigned as director of the Conservatoire, shortly before his death, and Thomas was appointed his successor. He was so widely seen as Auber's heir apparent that the minister of education, Jules Simon , said in his letter offering Thomas the post, "You are so obviously fitted for

Ambroise Thomas - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-512: The overture became a popular orchestral showpiece. In 1851, following the death of the composer Gaspare Spontini , Thomas was elected to succeed him as a member of the Académie des Beaux Arts . In 1856 Thomas was appointed professor of composition at the Conservatoire, under the directorship of Daniel Auber . He remained on the staff, as professor and subsequently director, until his death forty years later. Over these years his students included

1518-641: The piano with Friedrich Kalkbrenner , and composition with Jean-François Lesueur and Auguste Barbereau . In 1832, at his second attempt, Thomas won France's premier music prize, the Grand Prix de Rome , with his cantata Hermann et Ketty . The prize brought him three years' study at the Villa Medici , the French Academy in Rome . During his time there he became friendly with the painter Ingres ,

1564-749: The role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1883. The versions of the opera performed outside France, in particular, those in the United States and Italy, have been in Italian (later also in French), with Mignon as a soprano or mezzo-soprano, and Frédéric as a mezzo-soprano or contralto, and with the sung recitatives and the shortened finale. More recently, in 1986, the original opéra comique version with soprano Cynthia Clarey as Mignon

1610-534: The stage. The first opera Thomas composed was La double échelle (The Double Ladder, 1837), a one-act comedy, praised by Berlioz for its "extreme vivacity and wit". It was produced at the Opéra-Comique , received 247 performances, and in the next few years was given in Brussels, New Orleans , Berlin, Vienna and London. His first full-length opera, Le perruquier de la Régence (The Regency Wigmaker, 1838)

1656-549: The students of the Conservatoire. Thomas' operas were generally neglected during most of the 20th century, but in more recent decades they have experienced something of a revival both in Europe and the US. Thomas was born in Metz , the youngest of four children of Martin Thomas (1770–1823) and his wife, Jeanne, née Willaume (1780–1866), both music teachers. By the age of ten he was already an experienced pianist and violinist. When he

1702-404: The work by which his name became most widely known. The libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré , based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre . Forbes writes that, unusually, Thomas had the advantage of a well-judged and theatrically effective libretto, and that although in the novel Mignon dies, the happy ending works well in the opera. (A happy ending was then compulsory at

1748-537: The work for the first performance at the Drury Lane Theatre in London on 5 July 1870. This version was given in Italian with recitatives (instead of spoken dialogue). The role of Mignon, originally for mezzo-soprano , was sung by a soprano ( Christina Nilsson ), and the role of Frédéric, originally a tenor , was sung by a contralto (Zelia Trebelli-Bettini). A second verse was added to Lothario's aria in

1794-453: Was at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 17 November 1866. The piece proved popular: more than 100 performances took place by the following July, the 1,000th was given there on 13 May 1894, and the 1,500th on 25 May 1919. The opera was also adapted and translated into German for performance in Berlin with Madame Lucca as Mignon. Lucca was well received, but the German critics were unhappy with

1840-421: Was captured by Gypsies as a child. Wilhelm decides to purchase Mignon’s freedom. Lothario comes to say goodbye to Mignon. Lothario wants Mignon to travel with him, but she stays with Wilhelm. Frédéric lovingly follows Philine in, but she also wants Wilhelm. The acting troupe is about to set off for a baron's castle after receiving an invitation to perform there. Mignon is deeply in love with Wilhelm, but upset to see

1886-472: Was distantly based on Shakespeare by way of a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père , and Paul Meurice , further adapted as a libretto by Carré and Barbier. Although the adaptation was seen as a travesty of the play, with a ballet-divertissement (obligatory at the Opéra) and a happy ending, with Hamlet acclaimed as king, the work was successful not only in Paris but in London. Despite disparaging reviews of

Ambroise Thomas - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-474: Was followed in the next decade by six more, none of which made any permanent impression. During this period he also composed a ballet ( La Gipsy , 1839). His first completely successful three-act opera was Le caïd (The Qaid , 1849), described by the musicologist Elizabeth Forbes as "a mixture of Il barbiere di Siviglia and L'italiana in Algeri "; it remained in the French operatic repertoire throughout

1978-669: Was given on 9 May 1871 at the French Opera House in New Orleans. This was followed by a Maurice Strakosch production in Italian at the New York Academy of Music on 22 November 1871 with Christine Nilsson as Mignon, Mlle. Léon Duval as Philine, Victor Capoul as Wilhelm, and Mlle. Ronconi as Frédéric. The substantial success of the opera in London and New York has been attributed to the presence of Christine Nilsson in both productions. Nilsson also performed

2024-489: Was revived for a production at the Wexford Festival Opera . Noted soprano interpreters of Mignon have included Emma Albani (Covent Garden's first Mignon in 1874), Lucrezia Bori , and Geraldine Farrar ; mezzo-sopranos have included Marilyn Horne , Giulietta Simionato , Frederica von Stade , Risë Stevens , and Ebe Stignani . Lily Pons was famous for singing Philine. In the courtyard of an inn in

2070-422: Was twelve his father died, and Ambroise's elder brother Charles moved to Paris, where he played the cello in the Opéra orchestra. In 1828, aged 17, Ambroise joined him in Paris, where he was admitted as a student by the Conservatoire de Paris . He studied the piano with Pierre Zimmerman and harmony and counterpoint with Victor Dourlen . He won premiers prix in these subjects in 1829 and 1830. He went on to study

2116-403: Was worse than bad, somewhere between good and bad, or something else. A contemporary assessment was given in the first edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1889), where Gustave Chouquet wrote of Thomas: He brings to his task an inborn instinct for the stage, and a remarkable gift of interpreting dramatic situations of the most varied and opposite kinds. His skill in handling

#702297