Mignon: Overture

MIGNON is an opera in three acts by Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896). Premiered on November 17, 1866 at the Op?ra-Comique, it achieved immediate success. The French libretto, based on a novel by Goethe, was written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carr?. A revised version in Italian received its first performance at the Drury Lane Theatre in London on July 5, 1870. The plot involves a minstrel named Lothario, reduced to madness by the loss of his daughter to a group of gypsies. The student Wilhelm, after purchasing her freedom, falls in love with her. After Wilhelm rescues her from a burning castle, Lothario learns that Mignon, in fact, is his lost daughter. The overture, here edited by Clinton Nieweg and Nancy Bradburd in a newly-engraved edition, has enjoyed considerable popularity in concert halls. Instrumentation: 1+Picc.2.2.2: 4.2.3.0: Timp: Perc(3-4): Hp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set).