Opera in Focus - "THAIS"

"THAIS"
Act III

In 1893, Jules Massenet composed one of his most enduring and melodic operas, "Thais," inspired by the novel by Anatol France. The story of the fourth century courtesan, Thais, who is persuaded to renounce her seductive life by the monk Athaneal, concludes withg an awe-inspiring moment. Athaneal has made his way through a desert storm to return to the convent where he had brought Thais to atone for her previous life. He has grown to love her, but at his arrival the Mother Abbess Albine tells him Thais is near death. As he pleads with her to find strength to come away with him, she beholds a heavenly vision and dies.