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At the Opera 21 January 2026

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AT THE OPERA
Love triumphs, Part 1
Prepared and presented by Camille Mercep

Thomas, A. Mignon. Opera in three acts. Libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. First performed Paris, 1866.   

Thomas, A. Mignon, Act I   
[01:15:37]

Thomas, A. Mignon, Act II   
[01:04:17]

Thomas, A. Mignon, Act III   
[39:08]

   LOTHARIO: Nicola Zaccaria, bass
MIGNON: Marilyn Horne, mezz
JARNO: Claude Méloni, bass
WILHELM MEISTER: Alain Vanzo, ten
PHILINE: Ruth Welting, sop
ANTONIO: Paul Hudson, bass
Ambrosian Opera Ch; Philharmonia O/Antonio de Almeida.Total Time: 2:59:02
Sony SM3K 34590

   An elderly and half-mad minstrel, Lothario, has stopped for a rest at an inn. Gypsies arrive to entertain the crowd but, when one of them, Mignon, refuses to dance, she is attacked by Jarno. She is saved from a beating by a student, Wilhelm Meister. Mignon tells him how she was abducted as a child and Wilhelm decides to buy her freedom from the gypsies, encouraging the gypsies to leave. She falls in love with him but becomes jealous when she sees Wilhelm paying attention to the actress, Philine.
Philine’s acting troupe is invited to perform in a baron’s castle and Wilhelm accompanies them with Mignon, who has agreed to act as his page. Lothario also travels with the troupe and overhears Mignon wishing that the castle would burn down. After the performance, he sets fire to the conservatory not knowing that Mignon is inside. Wilhelm rushes in to save Mignon who has been overcome by the smoke.
Wilhelm takes Lothario and Mignon to a castle in Italy. Antonio, an old man in the castle, relates how the castle’s previous owner had gone mad after his wife had died from grief over the loss of their young daughter. Mignon awakens and tells Wilhelm of her love for this strangely familiar place and he realises that he loves her. It soon becomes clear that this is the castle from which Mignon was kidnapped and that Lothario, who has also recovered his wits in the familiar surroundings, is her father.

Thomas, A. A vos jeux, mes amis, from Hamlet (1869).    Joan Sutherland, sop; Adelaide SO/Richard Bonynge.
ABC 481 1873 [09:03]

23:30 MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
Prepared and presented by James Nightingale

Grigoryan, L. After dark (2014).    Slava Grigoryan, gui; Leonard Grigoryan, gui.
ABC 481 7031 [05:35]

Ligeti, G. String quartet no 1, Métamorphoses nocturnes (1953-54).    Hagen Quartet.
DG 474 327-2 [20:12]

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