The opera Thaïs is generally considered one of Massenet's finest works, although it is not as well known today as his Manon and Werther. Based on the popular novel by Anatole France, the opera's libretto was written by Louis Gallet. It is set in fourth century Egypt and tells the story of a Cenobite monk, Athanaël, who is obsessed with the beautiful courtesan, Thaïs. He sublimates his longing by converting her to Christianity and delivering her to a monastery. He then realizes that he has lost her forever.

Massenet composed the opera for the American soprano Sibyl Sanderson, who had previously achieved success in performances of his Esclarmonde. The first performance took place at the Paris Opera on March 16, 1894. The vibrant score, with its mysticism and oriental influences, reveals Massenet's brilliance as an orchestrator. The opera features a major ballet in Act Two. The juxtaposition of religious fervor and erotic tension inspired Massenet to compose some of his most sublime melodies, including the famous Méditation for solo violin, which first appears as a musical interlude in Act Two. The theme returns more than once in the opera and is used in the final duet between Thaïs and Athanaël. The desperate monk returns to the monastery where he has previously led Thaïs in order to confess his love for her. He finds her near death, focusing only on her future life in heaven.

© All Music Guide

Méditation, for violin & orchestra (or other arrangement) (from opera "Thaïs")

With the very slight exception of the Suites, Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was an opera composer who wrote virtually no independent orchestral music that survives in the concert hall. The one great exception is his Méditation from his opera Thäis (1894). Based on the novel by Anatole France, Thäis poses the question that haunts most of Massenet's serious opera: which is better, sacred or profane love? While the answer to that question is usually profane love while alive and sacred when dead, in the Méditation, Massenet opted for the latter for at least five minutes and, in so doing, created his one successful orchestral piece, albeit an orchestral piece in the form of a slow movement for violin and orchestra. With its long-breathed ethereal melody, its iridescent harmonies, its evanescent rhythm, and its incandescent climax, Massenet's Méditation is a hymn to sacred love that is completely convincing as long as it lasts. While other arrangements of the work exist, even the most faithful of them, a transcription for violin and piano frequently encountered on the recitals of especially gifted students, cannot hold a candle to the pseudo-sublime original.

© James Leonard, Rovi