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Organization

Singer

Soprano

Anna Netrebko

Manon Lescaut

Tenor

Yusif Eyvazov

The knight René Des Grieux

Baritone

Armando Piña

Lescaut

Bass

Carlos Chausson

Geronte de Revoir

Benjamin Bernheim

Edmond

Conductor

Marco Armiliato

Chorus master

Ernst Raffelsberger

Erik Anstine

An innkeeper

Sergeant of the Archers

Patrick Vogel

The dance master

A lamplighter

Stage director

Andrei Serban

Set designer

Peter Pabst

Salzburger Festspiele

Others

Chor der Wiener Staatsoper

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera

Italian

Salzburg

Austria

Großes Festspielhaus

Prima donna assoluta and the radiant star of the international opera world, Anna Netrebko, is given a wonderful opportunity to present her "incomparable, velvety, hypnotic, soft-dark timbre" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung): as the tragic heroine of Jules Massenet's "Manon". First performed in 1884, it is, along with Werther, the most popular opera by the prolific composer, who reigned supreme over French musical theater in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Based on an 18th-century novel, "Manon" tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with an impoverished young nobleman, Des Grieux, on her way to a convent. She chooses earthly love over divine love and, with misfortune after misfortune, is finally arrested as a prostitute and sentenced to deportation to the New World. But before that, she dies in the arms of her beloved. Massenet's dazzling score forms a nuanced backdrop for the tragedy and hovers between arias and spoken dialogues, between melodrama and récitatif accompagné - always highly emotional, but never kitschy.
Anna Netrebko pulls out all the stops as an impulsive, hybrid femme fatale and nanny who gives in to her inordinate desire for sensual pleasure. As her radiant knight, Roberto Alagna is a Des Grieux who conquers all hearts with his lively timbre and stage presence. Director Andrei Serban has transposed the plot to the 1930s, a time of growing social and political uneasiness greatly evoked by Peter Pabst's sets. Film projections, mirror effects, posters and naturalistic props reinforce the flickering nervousness of the score.
Conductor Bertrand de Billy extracts every ounce of tragedy, every flash of emotion, every change of mood and every atmosphere in Massenet's music. With his orchestra's transparent and well-defined playing, he clearly rejects the often cosy, impressionistic orchestral style often favored for Massenet's music. Thanks to this recording, the production - "one of the most glamorous of the current Vienna State Opera season" - will continue to delight music lovers even after leaving the Vienna stage.

Manon Lescaut by Puccini, From (2016/2016), Directed by Andrei Serban,, Conductor Marco Armiliato, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

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