BaL 17.03 18 - Massenet: Manon

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30
Building a Library: Massenet's Manon with Flora Willson.
Based on the 1731 novel L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost, Manon is probably still Massenet's most popular opera. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1884, and it has never been out of the repertory since its creation. It is full of charm and vitality with a complex central character, who develops from the ingenue of Act 1 to someone altogether more manipulative at the end of the drama.


Available versions:

Bidù Sayão, Bidù Sayão, Sidney Rayner, Richard Bonelli, New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Maurice Abravanel (download)

Montserrat Caballé, John Alexander, Louis Quilico, New Orleans Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Knud Andersson

Victoria de los Angeles, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Afro Poli, Plinio Clabassi, Adelio Zagonora, Arturo La Porta, Orchestra & Coro del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Napoleone Annovazzi

Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Alfredo Daza, Christof Fischesser, Rémy Corazza , Arttu Kataja, Hanan Alattar, Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (DVD/Blu-ray)

Bidú Sayão, Charles Kullman, Nicola Moscona, John Brownlee, Metroplitan Opera Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham (download)

Licia Albanese, Giuseppe di Stefano, Jerome Hines, Martial Singher, Metropolitan Opera, Fausto Cleva

Germaine Féraldy, Louis Guénot, Joseph Rogatchewsky, Georges Villier, Chorus & Orchestra of the Opéra-Comique Paris, Elie Cohen

Annick Massis, Alessandro Liberatore, Roger Joakim, Papuna Tchuradze, Patrick Delcour, Pierre Doyen, Sandra Pastrana, Sabine Conzen, Alexise Yerna, Orchestra & Chorus of the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Patrick Davin (CD & DVD)

Edita Gruberova, Francisco Araiza, Pierre Thau, Hand Helm, Wilfried Gahmlich, Geory Tichy, Chor de Wiener Staatsper & Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Adam Fischer (DVD)

Jeanette Pilou, Alfredo Kraus, David Holloway, Giorgio Tozzi, Piero De Palma, Frederick Burchinal, John-Paul Bogart, Maria Spacagna, Charlotte Ruello, Gloria Lerner, Dallas Civic Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Reynald Giovannetti

Renee Fleming, Marcelo Alvarez, Jean-Luc Chaignaud, Alain Vernhes, Franck Ferrari, Paris National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Jésus López-Cobos (download)

Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Rolando Panerai, Antonio Zerbini, Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Peter Maag

Victoria De Los Angeles, Henri Legay, Michel Dens, Jean Borthayre, Marthe Serres, Raymonde Notti-Pagès, Liliane Berton, René Hérent, Jean Vieuille, Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, Choeurs de l'Opéra de Paris, Pierre Monteux

Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Ralph Herbert, Giorgio Tozzi, Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Jean Morel

Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Earle Patriarco, José van Dam, Sophie Koch, Anne Maria Panzarella, Susanne Schimmack, Nicolas Rivenq, Nicolas Cavallier, Gilles Ragon, Orchestre symphonique et Chœurs de la Monnaie, Antonio Pappano (BaL winner 2000 & 2018)

Virginia Zeani, Mario Borriello, Alfredo Kraus, Franco Ventriglia, Vittorio Pandano, Franco Bordoni, Anna Maria Borrelli, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli, Ugo Rapalo

Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda, Gérard Souzay, Gabriel Bacquier, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Julius Rudel (download)



Ballet arrangement:

Carlos Acosta, Tamara Rojo, José Martin, Christopher Saunders, Laura Morera, Genesia Rosato, Thomas Whitehead, Paul Kay, Philip Mosley, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Martin Yates (DVD)

[verismissimo]

I've come to love this opera a great deal, and I have recordings: Feraldy/Cohen (1928/28), De Los Angeles/Monteux, Sills/Rudel and Gheorghiu/Pappano (which won BAL in 2000 as Alpie points out in his fine list).

I return to the Monteux most readily. He had played the viola in the orchestra at the Opera-Comique in 1891 - Sibyl Sanderson was Manon, so beloved of the composer that he was continuously re-writing for up to her debut in the role.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

When I was much younger, I thought this was an opera by Puccini.

[verismissimo]

When I was much younger, I thought this was an opera by Puccini.

Perhaps if it was by Puccini, it might reach double figures ... Suggest you put Mahler in the headline, Alpie.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Perhaps if it was by Puccini, it might reach double figures ... Suggest you put Mahler in the headline, Alpie.

That thought had occurred to me.

[richardfinegold]

That thought had occurred to me.

Opera not being my main interest, I have to ask: is this the one with the mini Violin Concerto?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Opera not being my main interest, I have to ask: is this the one with the mini Violin Concerto?

No - the "'Meditation' from Thais" is from Werther.


Late 19th Century French opera is becoming a new area of interest for me - I'm getting more pleasure from it than from the Italian equivalent - so I shall listen to this BaL with great interest.

[verismissimo]

No - the "'Meditation' from Thais" is from Werther.


...

Surely not, ferney. It's from Mahler 5.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[Barbirollians]

I enjoyed the ROH production with Netrebko a few years back - played for all it was worth . Whilst I know it was quite a long time since it was last featured surely Pappano will still win with Monteux the historical choice .

[BBMmk2]

I enjoyed the ROH production with Netrebko a few years back - played for all it was worth . Whilst I know it was quite a long time since it was last featured surely Pappano will still win with Monteux the historical choice .

I do rather like Pappano and what he has done so far. I agree Barbs!

[verismissimo]

So many of the pupils of Mathilde Marchesi in Paris were personally coached by Massenet in Manon and other roles, including Emma Calve, Sibyl Sanderson, Nellie Melba, Emma Eames and Blanche Arral ... I'm planning to play early Massenet recordings made by two Marchesi pupils - Sigrid Sanderson and Frances Saville - at a talk at the Recorded Vocal Art Society in London on Wed 21 March.

https://www.facebook.com/events/250457625472322/

[Howdenite]

Carlos Acosta, Tamara Rojo, José Martin, Christopher Saunders, Laura Morera, Genesia Rosato, Thomas Whitehead, Paul Kay, Philip Mosley, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Martin Yates (DVD)

This last item in the list is the ballet, which doesn't use music directly from the opera. I wonder if it belongs here... From the Royal Opera House web site about the upcoming production:
"Renowned dance musician Leighton Lucas and his assistant Hilda Gaunt provided a score drawn from across Massenet’s music, including his famous yearning Elégie as the theme for the lovers. "

I am looking forward to this (as well as the ballet, which is one of my favourites!) as I have enjoyed the opera but don't yet have a recording.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This last item in the list is the ballet, which doesn't use music directly from the opera. I wonder if it belongs here...

My mistake. Will amend.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

For those who don't know this opera, this isn't a bad way in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXW6iqVTnUU