The composer Jules Massenet, born near Saint-Etienne, France, in 1842, remains today a bit forgotten, but he was a highly prolific author, and as far as the early twentieth century, about 30 of his operas were widely represented in the most important stages worldwide. A precocious musician –from whom it was said he could play some Beethoven sonatas when he was four–, he entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was 9, after receiving the teachings of his mother.
At age 22 he was awarded the Rome Prize. In Rome, he met Franz Liszt, who during those years was enjoying a comforting honeymoon in the company of Marie d'Agoult. The great Hungarian maestro commissioned him to give lessons to one of his most distinguished disciples because he could not cope with his many students. The distinguished disciple was named Louise Constance de Gressy and was known as "Ninon" in her inner circle. Two years later, after going back and forth with music, teacher and student ended up marrying in 1866.
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| Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912) |
She was an open-minded and free woman, and unlike a critic of those days was in no way afflicted by the composer's marked tendency to engage women as the protagonists of his operas. Rumour had it that the musician composed his works with an eye on the prima-donnas selected to sing the arias. Ninon didn't move a muscle, but the critic did dare to write down that the composer couldn't write an opera without a woman as the protagonist. Massenet replied writing a work putting aside his natural inclination until the time came when a mezzo-soprano had to play the part of the tenor in a performance in New York. It was Jules' fate.
Thäis opera - Meditation
Since the mid-eighties of the last century, some operas by Massenet have enjoyed a renewed splendour. One of them is Thais, composed in 1894 and based on the novel of the same title by Anatole France. The opera's heroine is, certainly, Thais, a courtesan of Alexandria, devoted to the goddess Venus, who is in danger of being converted to Christianity by a Cenobite monk.
If the work enjoys public recognition today it is largely due to the intermezzo for violin and orchestra from the second act known as "Thais Meditation", which is usually performed separately as a concert piece.
When Massenet died, on August 13, 1912, the New York Times remarked that "the last one of the great creators of melodies" had left. It is true.
The rendition is by the Dutch violinist Janine Jansen.
