In the 1890's buggy-couples wooed each other with "Connaistu le Pays?" sweet lyric by Ambroise Thomas. As old Dobbin ambled along the moon-patched road He would lean his head against her leg-of-mutton sleeve, and She would trill: "Knowest thou the Land?" So thorough a wooing song did this aria from Mignon become that the opera itself became boresome. People refused to go hear it.
Thomas (1811-96) wrote Mignon in 1866. He, born at Metz, was a learned as well as smart composer. At 4, he knew his solfeggio; at 17, he was...
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