MIGNON

While both Giacomo Meyerbeer and Charles Gounod declined the offer of setting music to the Mignon libretto, it was Thomas who ultimately tackled the adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. The heroine of the story is kidnapped as a child and ransomed from her captivity as Wilhelm’s young wife. She falls in love with her rescuer, who, however, only recognises his own love for Mignon when it becomes a matter of life and death.

For twelve years now the Bayerische Staatsoper has supported highly talented young singers with its Opera Studio, which also prepares them on a practical level for a career as opera singers. The Studio develops an opera production of its own each season. Previously these have included: Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring (2016), Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul (2017), Ernst Krenek’s The Dictator and Viktor Ullmann’s Der zerbrochene Krug (2018), among others, as well as this year’s two one-act pieces, Mavra by Igor Stravinsky and Iolanta by Peter I. Tchaikovsky.