Thaïs – review

Usher Hall, EdinburghFirst performed in 1894, Massenet's Thaïs is one of opera's most striking examinations of the relationship between religion and sensuality, and a love story of unique strangeness. In 4th-century Alexandria, the monk Athanaël determines to save the soul of the prostitute Thaïs, only to find his faith undermined by desire as she comes ever closer to sainthood. The opera's detractors tend to regard it as an art nouveau period piece, though it has much to say about prurience ...

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