Méditation (Thaïs)
"Méditation" () is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera ''Thaïs'' by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra. The opera premiered at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on March 16, 1894. Description The Méditation is an instrumental '' entr'acte'' performed between the scenes of Act II in the opera ''Thaïs'' ; a wordless chorus joins in for the last reprise. 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 persuade 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'' occurs. In the second scene of Act II, following the ''Méditation'', Thaïs tells Athanaël that she let him take her to a cloister near the desert. Ernest Newman commented that the "solo is almost invariably made far more sickly than it need be or should be", ...
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