Santu De Silva <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I have always loved the piece played as an accompanied violin solo named
>the Meditation, from the Opera 'Thais' by Massenet.  (My folks played when
>I was a kid, on our old 78 rpm gramophone, which I put forward as an excuse
>for being so fond of what is probably regarded as a hacked piece.)

You need no excuse for this IMHO.  Having played it so many times, with
piano or orchestral accompaniment, I never found it dull or facile in
itself.  Actually one tends to develop a very personal relationship with
pithy works which one has recurrently played for twenty years or more, even
short and minor ones like that Meditation.  Although I am usually open to
renditions vastly different from mine, I have been appalled more than once
by performances of this particular piece, even by some renowned violinists.
They regarded it as an encore, which it has arguably become by now, and
took it as an excuse for an incredible lack of taste and nobility, and a
display of cheap seduction.  Sometimes it was obvious that they had
recently learnt it for commercial purposes -- it is so easy in "technical"
terms and so easy to sell!  But this told a lot about their refinement and
artistic integrity.

>I originally understood that this was a transcription of an aria from the
>opera.  However, try as I might, I can't find this aria sung *as* an aria
>anywhere.  Thais is rarely performed anymore, it is true, but I love this
>melody so much, I would dearly love to hear it sung/played as it was
>written.

Isn't it only an orchestral interlude between the two scenes of Act II? It
occurs at a psychological turnpoint where Thais, until then a woman of easy
virtue, is on her way to turning to religious faith.

I hope this helps,

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le
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