Manon with Lisette Oropesa

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Conductor...............Maurizio Benini
Production..............Laurent Pelly

Manon...................Lisette Oropesa
Des Grieux..............Michael Fabiano
Lescaut.................Artur Rucinski
Count des Grieux...Kwangchul Youn
Guillot.................Carlo Bosi
Brétigny................Brett Polegato
Poussette...............Jacqueline Echols
Javotte.................Laura Krumm
Rosette.................Maya Lahyani

Nadine Sierra.....hostess

I love knowing things.  I can't help it.  In this performance of Massenet's Manon from the Metropolitan Opera in HD I noticed for the first time that there was quite a bit of melodrama.  This does not mean corny, overacted soap operas, but instead refers to spoken dialog with orchestral accompaniment instead of recitative or spoken dialog.  Since the orchestra never stops playing, it is easy to overlook that occasionally the actors are speaking.  Then I read that Manon was a mainstay of the Opéra-Comique in Paris after it premiered in 1884.  The original novel is from 1731.  The only problem with the opera is that it is too long.

I didn't realize it has been already 7 years since this production debuted.   The basketball is still there, but there have been hints that it is supposed to be a hot air balloon.  Hot air balloons are not precisely spherical.  Enough.  Please read the other review for more discussion of the production.

I have only seen Artur Rucinski before in Lucia with Lisette from Madrid.  He is very attractive on camera and sings beautifully.

But the performance belonged to Manon and her Des Grieux who received much loud shouting in their bows.  This is a great opera for Michael Fabiano, suiting both his voice and his personality to a T.  You believe in his love.  He made the initial pickup very believable.  More Michael please.

Lisette Oropesa precisely embodies the 15 year old innocent who arrives on the train on her way to the convent.  It is impossible to picture this lively, passionate and curious girl cut off completely from life.  Des Grieux has only good intentions toward her and she towards him.  When she learns that Des Grieux's father intends to kidnap him, she knows she must make other plans.  Lisette is physically trained and fully capable of the physical requirements of the staging.  She ran up and down stairs, fell down and was dragged about, all while singing strongly.

I don't see the diabolical Manon, the evil Manon.  I see only someone who wants to enjoy her life, to have fun while she is still young.  Everyone seems to work against this.  Lisette Oropesa changes as the opera progresses to acquire less innocence and more sophistication.  This is an opera for our time, because she is destroyed by a rich old man.  Her cheers were well deserved.

I still don't see the bed in the sanctuary.  This is bogus.

Manon at the San Francisco Opera

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Conductor: Patrick Fournillier
Director: Vincent Boussard

Manon Lescaut: Ellie Dehn
Chevalier des Grieux: Michael Fabiano
Lescaut: David Pershall
Comte des Grieux: James Creswell
Guillot de Morfontaine:  Robert Brubaker
De Brétigny:  Timothy Mix
Poussette:  Monica Dewey *
Javotte:  Laura Krumm
Rosette:  Renée Rapier

Last night was the fourth performance of Massenet's Manon at the San Francisco Opera.

I find it helpful to contrast the plot of this opera with Puccini's Manon Lescaut.  To begin Massenet's heroine arrives in town on the "coach" on her way to the convent.  In our production she looks like Eliza Doolittle.  Puccini is similar.  In Puccini Lescaut is Manon's brother while in Massenet he is her cousin.  In both versions there are rich old men who want Manon.  In our production virtually all the characters are introduced in the first act but no effort was made to clarify who they were and how they relate to the story.  There was just a lot of meaningless milling around until Manon and des Grieux arrive.

In Massenet we see des Grieux and Manon living together and see that their separation was caused by the elder des Grieux kidnapping of his son.  In Puccini we go immediately to Manon living with one of the two old men as the result of her brother's dealings.  And when she attempts to escape her keeper, he has her arrested and shipped to America.

Massenet focuses on the relationship between des Grieux and Manon, a much more romantic and appealing approach.  After des Grieux's departure, Manon takes up with one of the old men.  The staging of Manon's gavotte is the highlight of the production.  She is seen high above the stage holding a large bunch of balloons and then floats down to the floor.  Fun.  I was worried she would have to sing from the flies, an acoustic dead spot.

When des Grieux is kidnapped by his father, he goes into the religious life and orates on the meaning of life.  This allows for the sexiest scene in all of opera:  the scene at Saint-Sulpice.  Manon has not forgotten des Grieux and goes to the church to seduce him away from his religious calling.  She succeeds.  "Isn't this my hand?"

The couple get involved in gambling and are arrested for cheating.  They have created their own fate, far less depressing than Puccini where they both die in Louisiana.

This performance was saved by music.  Our lovely French conductor kept the action moving and supported our romantic pair.  Ellie Dehn handled well all the changes of style of her role and sounded lovely.  Michael was intense and exciting as always.  His voice fills our house with ease.  Together they made a very romantic couple and brought the audience to applause over and over.  I loved it.

Manon in HD

Conductor...............Fabio Luisi
Production..............Laurent Pelly

Manon...................Anna Netrebko
Des Grieux..............Piotr Beczala
Lescaut.................Paulo Szot
Count des Grieux........David Pittsinger
Guillot.................Christophe Mortagne
Brétigny................Bradley Garvin
Poussette...............Anne-Carolyn Bird
Javotte.................Jennifer Black
Rosette.................Ginger Costa-Jackson


Before we get started I have just one question:  what was the basketball in Act III about?  Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe it's left over from March madness.

Today live from the Metropolitan Opera in HD featured Massenet's Manon in a new production by Laurent Pelly, starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała, (pronounced pyOtr betchAwa) who is Polish.  Did I know this opera was a comique?

Since we are seeing it next week, I was curious about some of the features Pelly's Manon has in common with Decker's La Traviata.  There are six different sets for Manon with basically only two for Traviata, but both are extremely bare bones.  Both operas have crowds of men in tuxedos and top hats that include cross-dressed women from the chorus.  Other reviewers have complained that the sloping stage ramps look like the handicapped entrance.  The austere last scene was very effective, but in general the sets are big, cumbersome and boring.  And I completely did not buy the bed in the transept, though it made for a nice finish for the scene.

The main difference between the two productions is the presence of women in Manon.  In Traviata Violetta is the only woman.  I rather liked the ballet made up of young women dressed like the dancers from Degas paintings, but I didn't like that they were all carried off screaming when they finished dancing.  I see no reason why rich men couldn't afford to bribe their way to affection.

Paulo Szot (shot) is an excellent actor and a pretty fair singer.  For me Manon really only works if the acting is intense.  Christophe Mortagne was very nasty as Guillot, the villain, but was having a lot of trouble with his English when Debbie Voigt was interviewing him.  We miss Renée.

Beczała is an excellent tenor who projects a very sentimental quality in the role of des Grieux.  He completely lost his sense of the correct pitch in his big aria.  And the Netrebko has it all.  I thought she looked, sounded, and acted beautifully.  I can't really imagine this opera with anyone else in it.  In the Marilyn Monroe scene (you know what I'm talking about) she lost her earring and then threw the other one across the room. 

This was Fabio Luisi's first Manon, and he conducted like it was an old friend.  He's setting records at the Met for most performances conducted in a single month.

[See Kinderkuchen History 1870-90]

Manon

Manon on the newly released DVD with Netrebko and Villazon is lovely the second time around (see here). All that is missing is Anna Netrebko jumping up and down during the bows.

The director is there to explain the production to us. Manon in the overture is reading movie magazines such as one used to find at the beauty parlor. She sees herself as an actress: first Leslie Caron [I insist], then Audrey Hepburn, then certainly Elizabeth Taylor, then Marilyn Monroe, and finally herself. The lights on poles that seem to follow Manon around the stage in the early scenes are part of her movie actress fantasy. Anna and Rolando Villazon bring the drama to life. It is difficult to imagine this particular production with other principles.

Perhaps one of the young women in my house in Florence would like to play Manon. At 16 she moved in to her boyfriend's house and is now a very mature 19. She spends all her money on shoes. She would like to learn Italian but realizes that all the designer houses in Florence are a stronger temptation than she could ever be expected to resist. She thinks perhaps Lucca would offer less temptation.

Sorry. I have digressed. But it is many years since I have been exposed to such young women and now see Manon entirely through their lives. Manon chooses in the moment, a reasonable thing for a 16 year old. Youth is to enjoy, not to pause and think seriously over. I am myself attempting to achieve an unexamined life and hope it is not too late.

The original Manon novel that forms the basis for two operas was written by an Abbé (L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost), and I’m sure was intended as a cautionary tale. The child Manon is obviously too frivolous and is sent off to a convent. On her way three men manage to fall in love with her: De Brétigny, a nobleman, Guillot, an aging rake, and the handsome, young chevalier des Grieux. She chooses the last and runs off with him. Later money seems more attractive, and Manon goes off with De Brétigny. In the end she is betrayed by Guillot and dies in prison. We are to see the ill effects of bad choices.

It is hard with our modern eyes to see the evil in Manon. Why should a 16 year old prefer the life of the convent over her handsome nobleman? How is she to resist beautiful shoes?

I love this production and think everyone should experience it. The scene at Saint-Sulpice is my favorite. But then Anna's Marilyn is also excellent. Anna mentions how much she needs and draws on Rolando's energy for her characterization. They are a dynamic pair who add to each other's performance -- the total is greater than the sum of the parts.

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Manon does Hollywood

On Saturday Manon opened at the LA opera. This very French production of Massenet's Manon actually comes from a Frankfurt designer. The visual images of French life in the 1950's bring a strong sense of place which I found reassuring.

Manon begins her theatrical life during the overture still on the train to the convent. She is dressed as a French school girl in a red beret. She applies her makeup. She removes her socks and draws a line down the back of her leg to create the effect of nylon stockings.

There were the usual unexplained elements to puzzle over--a row of army men opposite a row of priests, and men setting up spotlights and pushing them around the stage. When Manon needs to stand out from the crowd, as when des Grieux falls instantly in love with her, the spotlights are turned on her.

Manon's descent is traced in her costumes, like something from a film with Leslie Caron, like Gigi Turns to the Dark Side, perhaps. In des Grieux's apartment she has lost most of her clothing and engages in some child-like pillow fighting with her lover. She is torn with indecision, but ultimately allows him to be abducted. As the partner of her rich lover she is all in white with huge crinolines and a large hat, the portrait of a sophisticated grownup. To seduce des Grieux from his priestly calling she appears in vivid red.


Anna Netrebko completes this magical descent with her actions. She transforms from the school girl who loves pleasure too much, to the sophisticated queen of Paris, to the complete decadent of the gambling scene where she wears a blond wig and does a respectable pole dance, to the drab, ill, penitent of the final scene. It was a pleasure to watch.

The color of Anna's voice traced the same arc from school girl lightness, to maturity, to dark depression. She skipped lightly through "Obéissons quand leur voix appelle," was sweetly seductive in "N'est-ce plus ma main?" and darkly repentent in the final act. I would not be surprised should she suddenly begin to walk on water.

Rolando Villazon was his usual vivid self, but his voice seemed closed and covered and did not fully open up until the end. I'm hoping this is a temporary condition and not the beginnings of a problem. He looked adorable in his Rick's bar white dinner jacket and pencil mustache, the very picture of the decadent gambler. They made a remarkably sleezy pair.

Placido Domingo conducted. In the bows which went on longer than expected, Anna bounced up and down and waved, enjoying yet another triumph. I smiled all the way through. I'm still smiling now.

She is the diva of our time, and will possibly transform opera into her image. Like all of life, it is for a moment only. She is at her peak now. Rearrange your life to see this.