Ambroise Thomas isn’t exactly a household name. But chances are you know at least one of the melodies from his opera Mignon. We have Dr. Suzuki and his violin method to thank for that. The Gavotte from Mignon comes from near the end of violin book 2, and type the words Mignon and Gavotte into the YouTube search field, and presto: hundreds of eighth-size violins sawing away at this little operatic jingle:
It’s easy to see why Suzuki thought it might make a good violin progression piece. It’s a catchy little number. Since listening to the opera, I’ve been singing it for days. And that’s the thing about Thomas’s Mignon. It’s full of earworms. It’s a fun, frolicking, little opera and brilliantly captured in this concert recording.
This production of Mignon comes to us from the Opera Genève in Switzerland. Here’s a video highlight reel:
The opera comes in two forms: The original includes spoken dialogue while the second (written for the London premiere) added sung recitative. We’ll hear the first version in this production, but no worries, even if your French isn’t quite up to snuff you can still bask in the glorious melodies.
This production of Mignon stars French mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch as Mignon, German soprano Diana Damrau as Philine, Italian tenor Paolo Fanale as Wilhelm Meister and Swiss contralto Carine Séchaye in the pants role as Frédéric. The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the chorus of the Grand Théatre de Genève is conducted by Frédéric Chaslin.
It’s an exciting and electric performance. Here’s an excerpt from the other famous bit of the opera (besides the Gavotte), Je suis Titania as sung in this performance by Damrau.
You can find a synopsis over at Wikipedia.
Cast:
Sophie Koch, mezzo-soprano, Mignon.
Diana Damrau, soprano, Philine, an actress.
Paolo Fanale, tenor, Wilhelm Meister, a student.
Carine Séchaye, contralto, Frédéric, Philine's admirer.
Emilio Pons, tenor, Laerte, an actor.
Nicolas Courjal, bass, Lothario, a wandering minstrel.
Frédéric Gonçalves, bass, Jarno, a gypsy.
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