About the work
Ambroise Thomas' opéra comique in three acts, based on Goethe's novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship", was written to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. It premiered on 17 November 1866 at the Paris Opéra-Comique and became one of the house's greatest nineteenth-century successes.
Plot
Young Wilhelm Meister frees Mignon, a girl mistreated by a troupe of travelling performers, and takes her with him while also being drawn to the actress Philine. When a fire nearly kills Mignon, she is saved by the old harpist Lothario, who turns out to be her father, believed dead, and recognises her as the long-lost daughter of the Marchese di Cipriani.
Cultural significance
Mignon reached its 1,000th performance at the Opéra-Comique within Thomas' lifetime and soon became one of the most performed French operas internationally. For German-speaking audiences, who expected the tragic ending of Goethe's novel, Thomas composed a separate alternative conclusion in which Mignon dies, rather than the happy ending used in Paris.