(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas was born at Metz on the 5th August 1811. Both his parents were musicians and from the very beginning he was prepared for a musical career. He learned to read and write music as naturally as learning to conventionally read and write and he very quickly learned to play both the the piano and violin. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire in 1828 where he studied with Jean-Francois LeSeur while at the same time continuing his private piano studies with Frederick Kalkbrenner a well known virtuoso pianist.

His progress at the Conservatoire under the tutelage of LeSeur was remarkable and earned him the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome which allowed him to study in Rome for three years where he developed an admiration for the Italian Cantilena and melodic tradition. Upon his return to Paris, he set himself to composing and between 1837 and 1843 he composed nine works for the stage which were all successful with the opera-going public of that era. He followed the same path as Auber and Boieldieu with the emphasis on comic operas and even if the libretti were weak, Thomas' music ensured their popularity. His strong point was melody, either dreamy and beautifully sweet, or dazzling and effervescent, but unfortunately with very little else in between, leading to Francois Fetis describing them as, "whipped cream for breakfast, lunch and tea."

For the best part of twenty five years, Thomas enjoyed tremendous popularity but time has not been kind to him even though he was a superb musician with a clear understanding of the human voice.

In addition to his musical successes he proved himself to be an able administrator and in 1856, he became a professor at the conservatoire where he taught among other, Massenet. He succeeded Auber as director of the conservatoire in 1871 and held that position until his death.

With 'Mignon', which was produced at the opera-comique in November, 1866, Thomas achieved international fame. His natural talent for the stage with an instinctive happiness and lightness of touch was always popular with audiences and 'Mignon' was an immediate and overwhelming success. It is crammed with melody and beautiful orchestration with a distinction, refinement and polish all of its own, achieving 100 performances within six months and earning Thomas the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. Thomas lived to see the 1,000th performances of his work and he often remarked of his pleasure following the free performance of 'Mignon' given on the day following a Gala celebration in May 1894. "It gave an imprint of the national character of my work."

He once again achieved international success in 1868 with his opera 'Hamlet'. It has a strong dramatic libretto although the music remains typically Thomas who finishes the opera with the now typical although rather surprising happy ending. Even though the score contains a great deal of outstandingly beautiful music including the use of of a saxophone for the first time in an opera, it has not stood the test of time as well as 'Mignon', which is in no small way due to the liberties taken with Shakespeare's work.

Thomas' final two works, 'Francesca de Rimini,' an opera based on an extract from Dante's Inferno and seven years later 'La Tempete' a ballet based on another of Shakespeare's plays, were not successful.

Thomas was an extremely cultured person, a fervent patriot honoured by his country, and a favourite at the court of Napoleon III. As previously mentioned, he understood instrumentation and the human voice and wrote brilliantly for both with style and charm which abounds and delights with subtle harmonies in 'Mignon' and 'Hamlet'. While he was successful in his own era, unfortunately his style remains one of a dance-like charm with dramatic tension being entirely foreign to him. When this is coupled with poorly constructed libretti, it is not too difficult to see why his operas have not survived although 'Mignon' and 'Hamlet' are still occasionally produced.

Ambroise Thomas died in Paris on February 12th, 1896.

Mignon - The Plot

The libretto by the seasoned team of Jules Barbier and Michel Carre presents incidents from the plot of Goethe's 'Wilhelm Meister' and is arranged in the French style consistent with the time. It tells of a child stolen by gypsies; her mother dies of grief and her father, half-crazed with grief wanders the land in search of his daughter. Mignon's father, Lothario, and a student, Wilhelm, are part of troupe of actors and players on their way to the castle of a nobleman when they rescue Mignon from the brutality of a gypsy chief without realising that she is Lothario's long-lost daughter. After various trials and tribulations, they arrive at an Italian castle where they hope that Mignon will recover after a long illness. Wilhelm is watching over her while she sleeps and he realises that he loves her — "Elle ne croyait pas" — Lothario appears dressed in splendid clothes. His memory has returned, the castle is his and Mignon is his daughter.

Giuseppe di Stefano: Please refer to Grandi-Tenori.com biography or AM for April 2008

Anatoli Orfionov: Please refer to Grandi-Tenori.com biography