AB II-28

Description

Albert Brussee

FANTASY ON THEMES FROM THE OPERA THAÏS
by Jules Massenet

Jules Massenet (1848-1912), alongside Bizet, is without doubt one of the most important composers of the ‘belle époque’, the late romantic period in France (c. 1870 – 1914). Of the nearly 30 musical dramatic works he has left to posterity, several have held repertoire. Besides Manon and Werther, we think in particular of Thaïs, a ‘Comédie lyrique en trois actes et sept tableaux’ from 1894. This opera shows strong influence of Orientalism, the movement that also plays a role in the works of Félicien David and Saint-Saëns and reaches its highest flowering with Debussy and Ravel.
The libretto tells of Athanael, a cenobite living in the desert, who returns to his hometown Alexandria in the fourth century AD to convert the voluptuous courtesan and actress Thaïs to Christianity. He seeks to instruct her in true love, the love of charity, of All That Is, of God! At first he is scorned by her, but in time she begins to recognize in his words her vague desire for peace and inner harmony. Athanael, meanwhile, becomes more and more enchanted by the beauty and grace of her feminine figure. The famous Méditation de Thaïs, an instrumental interlude played by a solo violinist and orchestra exactly at the halfway point of the opera, symbolizes the moment when divine love descends in her heart and she decides to dedicate her life to God, while the ascetic monk transforms into a passionate lover.
In the final act, we find Thaïs in a women’s monastery. Greatly weakened by penance, she lies emaciated on a resting bed. Atnanael, driven by love, returns to the convent to which he himself brought her. Sobbing, he bends over the bier and tries to persuade her to start a new life at his side. Too late! Dying, she sees two seraphs with white wings, hears the sound of golden harps and angelic song, and passes away in his arms…. Again in this last scene, the Andante religioso of the Méditation is heard, this time, however, swelling to a climax of passionate rapture, after which a few bars in d minor round off the ambiguous drama.
The paraphrase broadly follows the action. After a few introductory bars, the instrumental section from the first act is presented in which Massenet paints Alexandria with clarion calls, as the Roman metropolis stretches along the Mediterranean. This section includes a dramatic aria of Athanael, in which he curses the pagan, depraved city. The second main part of the paraphrase is formed by the Méditation de Thaïs, followed by sections of the ballet music from the second act. The beautiful love duet was derived from the third act, after which a transition is created to the repetition of the Méditation, which, however, now develops more dramatically.

Style: late-Romantic, with occasional pre-impressionist, Eastern influences.

Difficulty: Grade X on a scale of I-XII.

RECENSIES

ZAKELIJKE GEGEVENS
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