Maxim Vengerov - Meditation from Thais
Wikipedia:
The
Méditation is a symphonic
entr'acte performed between the scenes of Act II in the opera
Thaïs. In the first scene of Act II, Athanaël, a
Cenobite monk, confronts Thaïs, a beautiful and hedonistic courtesan and devotée of
Venus, and attempts to convince her to leave her life of luxury and pleasure and find salvation through God. It is during a time of reflection following the encounter that the
Méditation is played by the orchestra. In the second scene of Act II, following the
Méditation, Thaïs tells Athanaël that she will follow him to the desert.
The piece is in D major and is approximately five minutes long (although there are a number of interpretations that stretch the piece to over six minutes). Massenet may also have written the piece with religious intentions; the tempo marking is
Andante Religioso, signifying his intention that it should be played religiously and at walking tempo. The piece opens with a short introduction by the harps, with the solo violin quickly entering with the motif. After the violin plays the melody twice, the piece goes into a section marked
animato, gradually becoming more and more passionate (Massenet wrote
poco a poco appassionato). The climax is reached at a place marked
poco piu appassionato (a little more passion) and is then followed by a short
cadenza-like passage from the soloist and returns to the main theme. After the theme is played twice, the soloist joins the orchestra while playing harmonics on the upper register as the harps and strings quietly play below the solo line.
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