Thaïs (opera)

Thaïs (French pronunciation: ​[ta.is]) is an opera, entitled 'comédie lyrique' in three acts and seven tableaux, by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet, based on the novel Thaïs by Anatole France. It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sibyl Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role.^[1] The opera was later revised by the composer and was premiered at the same opera house of the original version on 13 April 1898.

The work was first performed in Italy at the Teatro Lirico Internazionale in Milan on 17 October 1903 with Lina Cavalieri in the title role and Francesco Maria Bonini as Athanaël. In 1907, the role served as Mary Garden's American debut in New York in the U.S. premiere performance.

Thaïs takes place in Egypt during Byzantine rule, where a Cenobite monk, Athanaël, attempts to convert Thaïs, an Alexandrian courtesan and devotee of Venus, to Christianity, but discovers too late that his obsession with her is rooted in lust; while the courtesan's true purity of heart is revealed, so is the religious man's baser nature. The work is often described as bearing a sort of religious eroticism, and has had many controversial productions. Its famous Méditation, the entr'acte for violin and orchestra played between the scenes of Act II, is an oft-performed concert music piece; it has been arranged for many different instruments.

After Manon and Werther, Thaïs is one of Massenet's most performed operas, but it is not part of the standard operatic repertoire. The role of Thaïs, similar to another Massenet heroine also written for Sybil Sanderson, Esclarmonde, is notoriously difficult to sing and is reserved for only the most gifted of performers. Modern interpreters have included Carol Neblett, Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, Leontyne Price, Renée Fleming, and Elizabeth Futral.^[2][3] Géori Boué was the first to record the opera, in 1952.

Differences between two versions

In the original version Massenet had included a scene of temptation in Scene 2 of Act 3, as Athanaël sleeps in his cell. This scene was deleted in the revised version while the original Scene 1 became Scene 2, and a new Scene 1 was written for the latter version. In addition, a ballet scene including 7 pieces was added near the end of Act 2. The original temptation scene is now performed independently as a ballet suite derived from the opera.

		Original version (1894)	Revised version (1898)
Act 1	Scene 1	The Thébaïde	The Thébaïde
	Scene 2	Alexandria	Alexandria
Act 2	Scene 1	At the House of Thaïs	At the House of Thaïs
	Scene 2	Before the House of Thaïs	Before the House of Thaïs (Ballet: No. 1-7)
Act 3	Scene 1	The Thébaïde	The Oasis
	Scene 2	La Tentation	The Thébaïde (formerly Scene 1)
	Scene 3	The Death of Thaïs	The Death of Thaïs

Roles

Original Poster for Premiere of Thaïs

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 16 March 1894 (Conductor: Paul Taffanel)
Thaïs, a courtesan	soprano	Sibyl Sanderson
Athanaël, a Cenobite monk	baritone	Jean-François Delmas
Nicias, a nobleman	tenor	Albert Alvarez
Crobyle, servant of Nicias	soprano	Jeanne Marcy
Myrtale, servant of Nicias	mezzo-soprano	Meyrianne Héglon
Palémon, leader of the Cenobites	bass	François Delpouget
Albine, an abbess	mezzo-soprano	Laure Beauvais
A servant	bass	Euzet
Cenobites, Nuns, Citizens of Alexandria, Nicias's friends.

Synopsis

Act 1

Scene 1

A group of Cenobite monks go about their daily business. Athanaël, the most rigorous ascetic of them all, enters and confesses to the senior monk, Palémon, that he has lately been disturbed by visions of a courtesan and priestess of Venus named Thaïs, whom he had seen many years ago in his native city of Alexandria. Believing these visions to be a sign from God, he resolves, against Palémon's advice, to return to Alexandria, convert Thaïs to Christianity, and persuade her to enter a convent.

Scene 2

Athanaël arrives in Alexandria and visits his old friend Nicias, a wealthy voluptuary. Nicias welcomes him with open arms and reveals himself to be Thaïs's current lover. Upon hearing Athanaël's plan, he laughs and warns him that the revenge of Venus can be terrible. Nevertheless, he procures clothing for his friend in preparation for a feast that evening at which Thaïs will appear. His slaves, Crobyle and Myrtale, dress Athanaël and mock his prudery.

The feast begins. Thaïs arrives and sings a bittersweet love duet with Nicias: this is their last night together. She then asks him about Athanaël, who overhears her and tells her that he has come to teach her "contempt for the flesh and love of pain." Not tempted by this proposition, she offends his sense of propriety with a seductive song. He leaves, angrily promising to come back later, while she taunts him with a parting shot: "Dare to come, you who defy Venus!" and begins to disrobe as the curtain falls.

Act 2

Scene 1

	Méditation 1919 recording by Mischa Elman (violin) and Josef Bonime (piano)
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	Meditation Performed by Wasei Dúo, saxophone and piano
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Exhausted after the feast, Thaïs expresses dissatisfaction with her empty life and muses on the fact that one day, old age will destroy her beauty. Athanaël enters at this vulnerable moment, praying to God to conceal her beauty from him. He tells her that he loves her according to the spirit rather than the flesh, and that his love will last forever instead of a single night. Intrigued, she asks him to teach her the ways of this love. He nearly succumbs to her physical charm, but succeeds in explaining to her that if she converts, she will gain eternal life. She nearly succumbs to his eloquence, but then reasserts her nihilistic worldview and drives him away. However, after a long meditation she changes her mind.

Scene 2

Thaïs has joined Athanaël and resolved to follow him into the desert. He orders her to burn down her house and possessions in order to destroy all traces of her wicked past. She agrees, but asks if she can keep a statuette of Eros, the god of love, explaining to Athanaël that she sinned against love rather than through it. When he hears that Nicias gave it to her, however, Athanaël demands that she destroy it. Nicias appears with a group of revelers, who see Athanaël taking Thaïs away. Furious, they begin to stone him. Although Nicias is astonished at Thaïs' decision to leave, he respects it and throws handfuls of money to distract the crowd. Thaïs and Athanaël escape.

Act 3

Scene 1

Thaïs and Athanaël travel on foot through the desert. Thaïs is exhausted, but Athanaël forces her to keep going and thus do penance for her sins. They reach a spring, where Athanaël begins to feel pity rather than disgust for her, and they share a few moments of idyllic, platonic companionship as they rest. Shortly afterwards, they reach the convent where Thaïs is to stay. Placing her in the care of Mother Superior Albine, Athanaël realizes that he has accomplished his mission — and that he will never see her again.

Scene 2^[4]

The Cenobite monks express anxiety over Athanaël's asocial and morose behavior since his return from Alexandria. Athanaël enters and confesses to Palémon that he has begun to experience sexual longing for Thaïs. Palémon castigates him for having attempted to convert her in the first place. Athanaël falls into a depressed sleep and has an erotic vision of Thaïs. He tries to seize her, but she laughingly evades him. Then, a second vision tells him that Thaïs is dying.

Scene 3

Feeling that existence is worth nothing without her, he repudiates all his vows and rushes off to find her. He reaches the convent and finds her on her deathbed. He tells her that all he taught her was a lie, that "nothing is true but life and the love of human beings", and that he loves her. Blissfully unaware, she describes the heavens opening and the angels welcoming her into their midst. She dies, and Athanaël collapses in despair.

Recordings

Mary Garden in the opera Thaïs

• 1952 – Géori Boué, Roger Bourdin, Jean Giraudeau – Choeurs et Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Sébastian
• 1959 - Andrée Esposito, Robert Massard, Jean Mollien - French National Radio Orchestra and Chorus, Albert Wolff (Chant du Monde)
• 1961 – Renée Doria, Robert Massard, Michel Sénéchal – Choeurs et Orchestre de Radio France, Jésus Etcheverry
• 1974 – Anna Moffo, Gabriel Bacquier, José Carreras – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Julius Rudel (RCA)
• 1976 – Beverly Sills, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Gedda – John Alldis Choir, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel (EMI)
• 1997 – Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, Giuseppe Sabbatini – Choeur et orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine, Yves Abel (Decca)
• 2004 – Eva Mei, Michele Pertusi, William Joyner – Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia (Dynamic Srl Italy, 2004)
• 2009 – Barbara Frittoli, Lado Ataneli, Stefano Poda (stage director), Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino (ArtHaus), Gianandrea Noseda - DVD
• 2010 – Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, John Cox (director), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet, Jesus Lopez-Cobos - DVD

References

Notes

1. Boyden, p. 392
2. Occhietti, Serge (10 janvier 2009). – La magie de l'opéra. – Le Polyscope.
3. Tommasini, Anthony (December 9, 2008). – "One Diva to Another: This Role Is Divine". – The New York Times.
4. That scene was omitted during American premiere of Thaïs in 1908

Sources

• Boyden, Matthew; Nick Kimberley; Joe Staines (2002). The Rough Guide to Opera. New York: Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-749-2.
• Cross, Milton (1955). Complete Series of the Great Operas. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc. pp. 572–580.
• Huebner, Steven (2006). French Opera at the Fin de Siècle: Thaïs. Oxford Univ. Press, US. pp. 135–159. ISBN 978-0-19-518954-4.
• Kobbé, Gustav (1976). The Complete Opera Book. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 869–872.
• Upton, George P.; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 190–91.

External links

• Thaïs: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• List of historical performances of Thaïs at G. Casaglia Almanac
• Synopsis of Thaïs (Metropolitan Opera)
• MetOpera archives: Thaïs production 1939 with Review