Opis: Thomas Opera Mignon - Thomas Ambroise

Excerpt from Thomas Opera Mignon: With Italian and English Words and the Music of All the Principal Airs

Mignon, the daughter of noble parents has, when a child, been stolen from her ancestral home, by gipsies. Her mother, shortly after this bereavement, dies of grief; while Lotario, the brokenhearted father, almost deprived of reason by the loss of his daughter, forsakes his home, and roams as a minstrel, from place to place, in search of his darling child. For years, Mignon, utterly unconscious of her birth and origin, leads a wandering life with the gipsy tribe, of which her beauty renders her the most prominent ornament. The chief, Giarno, who combines the avocation of mountebank with that of gipsy, compels the hapless girl to dance, and go through various other performances, in order to obtain money from the inhabitants of the towns through which they pass - and harshly threatens her with his stick, whenever, from fatigue, she refuses to do his bidding. Guglielmo, a young student on his travels, happens on one of these occasions to be a spectator of Giarno's ferocity; and in order to prevent the recurrence of such ill-treatment, he purchases Mignon from her cruel master. The friendless Mignon, deeply touched by Guglielmo's kindness, gradually conceives for him an ardent and irrepressible attachment. Guglielmo, however, totally unconscious of the affection which his young protegee has conceived for him, falls a prey to the fascinations of Filina, a young actress belonging to a troupe of Thespians, on their way to perform at a neighboring castle, where a grand fete is about to take place, in honor of the arrival of some illustrious prince.

Foremost among the guests invited to assist at the festivities, is Guglielmo. Filina, the beautiful but coquettish object of his admiration, is the idol of the hour, and her success in the "private theatricals" at the castle, serves but to increase Guglielmo's fondness for the fascinating comedienne. Mignon, who has accompanied her new master to the castle, watches with silent grief the progress of Guglielmo's love for her rival. At length, despondent and unhappy, and unable longer to endure the maddening jealousy which gnaws her heart's core, Mignon is about to throw herself into a lake adjoining the castle, when, of a sudden, a harp, played by an unseen hand, is heard, and in another moment Lotario appears. Abandoning her impious resolve, Mignon, little dreaming that it is her father who stands before her, flies to the aged minstrel and implores his counsel and protection. Carried away by the vehemence of her emotion, she prays that vengeance may overtake the abode in which her hated rival is, at this very moment, in all the glory of her triumph. The performance inside the castle now terminates. Filina appears, surrounded by a tumultuous crowd of admirers, all loud in their praises of the actress's beauty and talents. Mirth and pleasure reign supreme, when, of a sudden, a lurid glare illumines the scene... the castle is in flames! The aged Lotario, whom the voice of nature has unconsciously interested in Mignon's behalf, has, half crazed as he is with grief and trouble, lent an ear to Mignon's rash imprecation, and has set fire to the castle. A scene of terrible confusion ensues. Mignon is nowhere to be found. Guglielmo, after an eager but fruitless search for her, rushes wildly amid the burning rafters, and, in a few moments, reappears, bearing the helpless girl in his arms.

In a room in Lotario's manorial residence, on the banks of an Italian lake, lies Mignon overtaken by a dangerous illness, resulting from the fearful peril she has so lately and so narrowly escaped, as well as from the continued struggle to conceal the affection so long pent up in her breast. Guglielmo, who has meanwhile assisted Lotario in transporting Mignon to the home from which the unhappy parent had so long been absent, has discovered (from the broken sentences which have escaped

Szczegóły: Thomas Opera Mignon - Thomas Ambroise

Nazwa: Thomas Opera Mignon With Italian and English Words and the Music of All the Principal Airs (Classic Reprint)
Autor: Thomas Ambroise
Wydawnictwo: FB &c Ltd
Kod paskowy: 9781331074991
Języki: angielski
Ilość stron: 42
Format: 15.2x22.9cm
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: Thomas Opera Mignon - Thomas Ambroise