Old Postcard Wednesday—Mignon

Mignon

Mignon, the young gypsy girl, is the central character of an “opera comique” written by Ambroise Thomas, and based on a novel by Goethe. The romantic opera was first performed  in the mid 19th century. Mignon is usually depicted as a bare footed gypsy girl, playing a mandolin. These postcards were very popular at the start of the 20th century in many countries.
      [Source: Clifton Curios Postcards]



I fell in love with some Mignon postcards at a vintage postcard seller's online shop and bought two without knowing anything about their background. Was Mignon the name of the brilliant photographer, I wondered? It is fun for me to discover more about postcards once they are in my possession, and learning about the Mignon back story was no exception. My husband and I have attended numerous operas given by Portland Opera over the past 17 years — I adore opera — but if Mignon has been one of their performances it is one that we unfortunately missed.  However, once I went to youtube and began playing some videos from the opera I immediately recognized a few as pieces I have enjoyed listening to on my favorite radio station, allclassical.org (broadcast from Portland, Oregon and streaming worldwide for your enjoyment!)

Apart from the opera itself, as horses will be among the olympians competing in London in the next week I thought this was a good time to show this postcard!

Below is more about Mignon. I am extracting portions from a good article at Wikipedia. Click here to read the full piece and to see photos:

Mignon is an opéra comique (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead, (Dubliners). Thomas's goddaughter Mignon Nevada was named after the main character.

Synopsis
    Time: End of the 18th century.
    Place: Germany and Italy. 

Act 1

In the courtyard of an inn in 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 wild flowers 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 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 the flowers that she gave him in the hands of Philine.

Act 2

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 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 is applauded in the conservatory. Mignon, in jealously, 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 wild flowers in the conservatory. Wilhelm rushes to save Mignon from the fire that Lothario had set to please her, carrying her unconscious body out of the conservatory with the singed flowers still in her hand.

Act 3

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 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 the she is his daughter Sperata. The three embrace happily.

This is the beautiful Ouverture to Mignon:

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This week's OPW post will close with the aria sung by the gypsy girl Mignon in the opera.
It is "Connais-tu le pays?" - translation: Do you know the country?


Description at youtube: The legendary french volcanic blond dramatic soprano 
Jane Rhodes, the marvellous Carmen, Marguerite, Renata, Tosca and Charlotte, 
performs "Connais-tu le pays?" from Ambroise Thomas' "Mignon". 
Please enjoy such a great rendition!!!


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An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down.*

My previous post was full of excitement that we were seeing La Boheme in Portland on Sunday. The opera was marvelous! It was so good to be back, and we won't let years pass again before our next opera. What a cast, totally deserving of the standing ovation at the end. The stage sets were wonderful and our box seats gave us a perfect vantage point to fully appreciate the artistic touches that helped to sweep us into another world. It was a full house which both surprised and pleased me, given the economy - which has not improved in Oregon. I had a sense that people are not about to let The Arts take it in the chops if they can in any way prevent it.


Yes, it is an emotional opera.....sad and soaring. But what brought me to tears was someone we passed on our way out of the box seat section when the production was over. Sitting just inside the box section exit, waiting for the crowd to clear some before leaving via elevator and not stairway as most of us were, was the most beautiful little girl in a powder blue dress. She was maybe eight years old, but had the composure of an old soul. Her pretty dark brown hair was slightly curled and I think I remember a light blue headband. I did not look to see the adult(s) with her because there was such a glow about her I didn't want to alter my focus as we moved along at a fair pace with the crowd. She had such poise and child-joy. It was clear to me that she had loved La Boheme, most likely loves opera, quite possibly knows more about it than many adults there that afternoon. She was fully present. Not exchanging glances with any of us walking by her wheelchair, her soft eyes remained fixed on the stage.






painting: Marie-Therese Gaillard by Mary Cassatt, 1894

* "An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house" - Maria Callas



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La Boheme on my mother's birthday

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• photo of "the young and vibrant cast" of Portland Opera's production of La Boheme.
  

• interview with cast members by sponsoring radio station kink.fm - OPERA You Can LOVE!

Portland Opera's la Boheme  

Hold on to your heart!

A wondrous young love blossoms in the bohemian world of 1830s Paris.

It all begins with Mimi's gentle voice at the door. Might she have a light for her candle? And that one small light ignites opera's most touching and poignant love story.

From the moment Rodolfo stares into her eyes and Puccini's violins slowly rise from the quiet, an extraordinary journey begins. For them. And for us. With their first tender kiss, we're swept back to the miraculous time of our own first love.

One of the most romantic operas ever composed! Soaring, lyrical, and intensely emotional.

Sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage.

- overview from Portland Opera website

I am so excited that we will be at the 2:00 p.m. production of La Boheme in Portland today. Mike and I attended Portland Opera's February 2001 production of this opera, just four months after my mothers death. We had been season ticket-holders for five years and had worked our way down to the center orchestra section by 2001, so close it was almost like being on stage. When, amongst the snowy scenery in Act III, there was a white bust of a woman in the foreground setting that looked so much like my mother that Mike and I gasped together as the curtains parted, it became a wondrous connection with her.

After my mother's death in October 2000 I experienced a random and magical series of occurences that I called ICMs (Ironies and Cosmic Messages) when describing them to Mike, in my journal, in letters to my sister. The bust on stage at La Boheme in 2001 was one of those.

We let our Portland Opera season tickets lapse in 2003. The money needed to go elsewhere and I ceased using charge cards for entertainment. But oh how I have missed the opera. Listening to it on the radio and on CDs is nice, but doesn't come close to being in the audience. Determined to attend at least one opera in the 2009-10 season, I was thrilled to see that the new production of La Boheme was scheduled on my mother's birthday (one of those ICMs as the anniversary of her death also approaches) - and I got us great Box Seat tickets, cash not credit, so all seems right with the world.

Massenet feels it as a Frenchman, with powder and minuets. I shall feel it as an Italian, with desperate passion.

-- Puccini, quoted in M Carner, Puccini (1974)

candle photo via tinypic

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