Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

In Act 5 the funeral procession of Ophelia comes by, followed by the unhappy Hamlet, who is
now filled with grief and remorse for the fate of the loving girl who was to have been his bride;
but upon the ghost once more appearing and urging him to avenge his wrongs he falls upon
Claudius and kills him. Explanations follow, and the opera closes with the people acclaiming
Hamlet as their King.
169. MIGNON
Romantic Opera in Three Acts By Charles Ambroise Thomas
Libretto By Barbier and Carré (Adapted from Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister"
First Produced Paris, November 1856
Chief Characters Mignon, Filina, Wilhelm Weister, Laertes, Lotario, Giarno, Frederick
THE plot is based upon Goethe's novel, "Wilhelm Meister." and the scene is laid in Germany and
Italy. In Act 1 we are introduced to an old wandering harper, Lotario, who is in reality a rich
Italian nobleman, whose beloved and only daughter, Sperata, was stolen in childhood by gipsies,
and the distracted father has since spent his life wandering about Europe in minstrel garb, seeking
for her, his wife having died before the loss of the child. As the curtain rises he is seen resting in
the courtyard of a German inn, where a band of gipsies presently arrive and begin to entertain the
bystanders. Giarno, the leader of the band, commands Mignon, a pretty young gipsy maiden, to
perform the egg dance, and upon the girl refusing because of utter weariness, he proceeds to beat
and ill-treat her. Lotario hastens to the assistance of the poor girl, but is too feeble to help her; and
at this moment a young student, Wilhelm Meister, approaches with some strolling players, and,
beholding the scene, at once comes to the rescue and drives off the bully. Mignon, full of
gratitude, entreats him to keep her with him, and Wilhelm, full of pity for the ill-used girl, gives
the gipsy a sum of money in compensation, and takes her away with him, providing her with the
dress of a page. Mignon soon falls in love with her gallant young preserver, who, however, does
not notice the fact, having himself fallen under the fascinations of the pretty and coquet-tish
strolling actress Filina, who, knowing him to be a young man of good family, desires to wed him.
The players proceed to the castle of a neighbouring prince, where they are to perform, taking with
them Wilhelm and Mignon, being also followed by the harper, Lotario, who is strangely attracted
to the lovely maiden, in whom he fancies he traces a likeness to his own lost child. At the castle
Wilhelm falls deeper into the toils of the gay Filina, greatly to the grief of Mignon, who, in despair
at the hopelessness of her own love, is about to drown herself in a lake, when she is prevented
from doing so by Lotario, who endeavours to comfort her. In her misery Mignon expresses the
wish that the castle and all the players might be destroyed; and Lotario, in sympathy with the girls
grief, secretly enters the castle and sets fire to the place. As the players and guests run out in alarm
into the grounds, Filina sends Mignon back to fetch a bouquet she has left behind; but when it is
discovered that the girls return is cut off by the fire all are filled with consternation, and old
Lotario is in despair. Wilhelm, however, dashes into the burning building and presently returns
through the smoke and flames bearing the unconscious Mignon in his arms.
Act 3 takes place in Italy, whither Lotario has brought Mignon to his own château to recover from
the effects of the fire, and here also Wilhelm has followed the pair, having now learnt of his little
protégées love for him, and conceived a like passion for her, having freed himself from the toils of