{"id":40321,"date":"2016-12-01T09:44:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T14:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=40321"},"modified":"2016-12-02T14:29:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T19:29:47","slug":"scrutiny-met-manon-lescaut-sounds-like-a-masterpiece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/12\/01\/scrutiny-met-manon-lescaut-sounds-like-a-masterpiece\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | The Met’s Manon Lescaut Sounds Like A Masterpiece"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brindley
Brindley Sherratt as Geronte di Ravoir and Anna Netrebko in the title role of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. (Photo: Ken Howard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Puccini\u2019s\u00a0Manon Lescaut<\/em>\u00a0at The Metropolitan Opera. Runs through Decemb<\/span>er 10.<\/span><\/h3>\n

NEW YORK CITY \u2014 What a disappointment. I travel all the way to New York to see a widely condemned updating of Puccini\u2019s Manon Lescaut, complete with a jumble of sets pointlessly evoking Nazi-occupied France \u2014 and I kind of like it.<\/p>\n

If this does not assuage my worries about the Metropolitan Opera, it does simplify a recommendation of the live broadcast of Dec. 3, which opens the Saturday afternoon Met season on CBC Radio 2, as a performance probably worth hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n

This tragedy of 1893, based on the same 1731 novella by Abb\u00e9 Pr\u00e9vost that inspired the Jules Massenet opera titled simply Manon<\/em>, was Puccini\u2019s breakout masterpiece. In my view, it is no less engrossing and beautiful than the hits you have heard and seen a hundred times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manon Lescaut<\/em> enjoys an interesting place also in the history of music criticism, owing to the presence at the London premiere of George Bernard Shaw. \u201cPuccini seems to me more like the heir to Verdi than any of his rivals,\u201d he wrote. Good call.<\/span><\/p>\n

All the same, the work has all but fallen out of the repertoire in Canada. Only the enterprising Pacific Opera Victoria, if my research holds up, has produced it in the 21st-century, and this was a decade ago. Possibly the modern doctrine is to stick to the Puccini big three \u2014 La Boh\u00e8me<\/em>, Madama Butterfly<\/em>, and Tosca<\/em> \u2014 if you want a quick hit that is easy to cast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Anna
Anna Netrebko in the title role and Marcelo \u00c1lvarez as des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. (Photo: Ken Howard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Canadian Opera Company last staged Manon Lescaut<\/em> in 1997, at the Hummingbird Centre. Notices from the time suggest a less than glorious opening night. The Op\u00e9ra de Montr\u00e9al put it on the following year, during the reign of Bernard Uzan, with the well-remembered soprano Diana Soviero (his wife) in the title role. My commendatory review included a comment about \u201ca big-voiced tenor from the Atelier program\u201d in the substantial supporting role of Edmondo. This was Marc Hervieux, who went on to become the Andrea Bocelli of Quebec.<\/span><\/p>\n

But back to the Met. Heading the cast is Anna Netrebko, an ampler soprano in all senses than she once was. This Russian bombshell in the performance I attended made a tragic figure of the title character, who forgoes true love for a life of luxury. Tenor Marcelo \u00c1lvarez, as her relentless suitor and would-be saviour Des Grieux, was in every way her equal as actor and vocalist.<\/span><\/p>\n