Mignon: De Almeida / Po M.horne Vanzo Welting Zaccaria Von Stade

'Mignon' is considered the masterpiece of French composer Ambroise Thomas. The comic opera is based on Goethe's convoluted melodrama 'Wilhelm Meister,' which is also the source for Schubert's great 'Mignon Lieder.' From its premiere in 1866 'Mignon' became a staple of the Paris Opera, receiving over two thousand performances in the next seventy-five years, and was for a time part of the repertoire worldwide. While its arias still find their way into recital programs the opera itself has somehow faded from the scene.
This performance was the first complete commercial recording of 'Mignon' and is now the first available on CD. Fortunately, it's really good: Marilyn Horne is in top mezzo form as Mignon, the gypsy boy who is really a gypsy girl who is really a princess; soprano Ruth Welting is amusingly silly as the arch-coquette Philene; tenor Alain Vanzo is appropriately forthright as Wilhelm, the man they're all trying to please; and mellifluous basso Nicola Zaccaria wins sympathy as Lothario, the mad old gypsy beggar who is, of course, a prince and Mignon's long-lost father. It is all skillfully put together by Antonio Almeida, a specialist in this music, with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Ambrosian Singers providing excellent support.