Manon by Massenet

[uffeviking]

Not too many opera DVDs have been published lately and I was delighted to see Virgin Classics has issued the David McVicar directed Manon, performed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona.

Ever since I have watched Natalie Dessay as Ophelia in Thomas's Hamlet I admired this soprano, a welcome relief to hear a soprano hitting notes on the first try, not hunting for them all over, as is the habit of the NY Met darling! She does not disappoint as Manon! If there is one tiny flaw it's the way she belts out those few extremely high notes, coming dangerously close to a shriek. Her partner, Rolando Villazón is as charming as usual but I could detect a slight  reluctance to go all out in voice and acting. I read of his hiatus for a few month to give his overworked vocal cords a rest; this performance in 2007 could have something to do with it.

Very lovely production with sumptuous costumes, yards of billowing taffeta in luscious colour combinations, worn elegantly by the chorus members and supernumeraries on an almost bare stage. The one disappointment is the guest appearance of Samuel Ramey as Le Chevalier Des Grieux – Villazón's father -. Ramey should have retired some time ago; his voice is not there and his diction makes the French libretto sound as if existing only of the consonants o, u, and an occasional a. Stoic acting in what should be a dramatic figure ruins important confrontations with the son.

If you love Dessay as I do, you might give this two disc issue a spin.

[Wanderer]

If you love Dessay as I do, you might give this two disc issue a spin.

I sure will. Thanks for letting us know!

I'm listening to Massenet's Werther (Alagna/Gheorghiou/Pappano) at the moment, with the intention to continue with Manon (same forces) later on... a nice coincidence that you opened this thread, uffe!   

[Tsaraslondon]

I sure will. Thanks for letting us know!

I'm listening to Massenet's Werther (Alagna/Gheorgiou/Pappano) at the moment, with the intention to continue with Manon (same forces) later on... a nice coincidence that you opened this thread, uffe!   

Like Werther, Manon has been lucky on disc. There are at least four excellent versions - Gheorghiu/Alagna/Pappano - Cotrubas/Kraus/Plasson - Sills/Gedda/Rudel and my personal favourite, though the oldest of them,  De Los Angeles/Legay/Monteux. De Los Angeles evinces a charm and vulnerability that is most beguiling and I find her portrayal irresistible. She is helped immeasurably by Monteux's stylish conducting.

[T-C]

Lis,

I second firmly your recommendation for this excellent DVD version of Manon

David McVicar is one of my most favorite opera directors. For my taste, this is one of his most successful creations. Stage design is quite simple but very effective. Costumes are colorful and lavish. Dessay is a wonderful Manon. Her rendition of the `table aria' (Act II) is maybe the most beautiful I have heard.

Rolando Villazon sounds a bit strained in places (like his act III aria `Ah! fuyez, douce image' - this was the last production he participated before his half year break) but in general his singing is beautiful, like the outstanding rendering of his act II "Dream aria" `En fermant les yeux'. They are both excellent actors. The two big duets in the finale of Act III and Act V are simply amazing in their intensity of singing and acting. All the other singers are very good, with the exception of Sam Ramey whose vibrato is quite painful to my ears (but luckily his role is very short).

Unfortunately, nowadays, there are not too many new opera DVDs of new productions as was the situation a year ago or more. Massenet's Manon is a masterpiece of the French lyric opera, and this DVD version of it exemplifies its qualities brilliantly.

Here is a review about the DVD:

MANON by MASSENET


And a few pictures:

[Tsaraslondon]

This DVD certainly looks enticing. Another one for the shopping list.

[zamyrabyrd]

I would rather buy the Fleming/Alvarez version (2001) done with dignity, beauty, musicality and even restraint at times, not overstating the bleeding obvious. Who really needs Manon to LIE on la petite table--silly little tricks that one expects from Dessay. Villazon is too Latin for my taste here as well, not lyric enough--strained in places, one might say.

ZB

[uffeviking]

Anybody preferring a soprano who can not hit the right not immediately, has to pull it up from her knee cap, can never understand the perfect delivery of every note, every time be this outstanding soprano:Dessay!

[zamyrabyrd]

Anybody preferring a soprano who can not hit the right not immediately, has to pull it up from her knee cap, can never understand the perfect delivery of every note, every time be this outstanding soprano:Dessay!

Sorry, that is just not true. Dessay's "Doll Song" supplies evidence of over and under pitch. Of course, if one is busy kicking and jumping on the tenor's back, it may be understandable, but to my mind not excusable.

Another thing about singing, maybe not important these days, is a quality of love and beauty. Dessay's screechy high notes in the "Gavotte" are a case in point and anything but. Doing so, however, is also a mistake in style corrupted by "verismo" in opera. MAYBE this kind of production is acceptable for such composers (but I'm not so sure Puccini himself would have agreed to anything less than bel canto). In Massenet, one expects and gets from Fleming floated, lovely high tones that lend charm to the character, and as much on pitch as anyone else's.

ZB

[T-C]

Both DVD versions of Manon, the Fleming/Alvarez and the Dessay/Villazon are excellent. We are lucky to have them both. In the Paris performance we get a more restrained and grand style, more appropriate to the French Grand Opera. In the Liceu production we get a bolder and a more amusing style, in my opinion, better suited to the Opera Comique, which is really how Massenet described his opera.

Fleming has the bigger and richer voice; so naturally, her big act III aria and Gavotte are vocally stunning. But Dessay is a great actress, and what she lacks in volume she gives in expression. The 'inward' singing of the second verse of the Gavotte is exceptional. I leave the pitch analysis to the experts. What is much more important for me, is if the singer excites me or not. For my taste, both Fleming and Dessay are very effective.

I think that the table aria with Dessay is brilliant both vocally and from the directing point of view. Anyway, if one doest like what he sees, than I think he has to blame the director not the soprano... 

[zamyrabyrd]

I grew up musically with the Beverly Sills' LP and it still rings beautifully in my mind's ear, although I'm not too much of her fan with anything else she did. Fleming herself said in an interview that she was afraid of the acoustics so didn't indulge in undersinging, although those little sighs at the end of petite table were SOOO moving!! What I'm saying here, and there may have been a criticism she may have been a little heavy, well, she's a lyrica as far as I can tell, and as opposed to colorature whose middle range is their weakest asset.

Also, I tend to think, although I may be wrong, that top billed singers pretty much get their way. I can understand and even appreciate the Shirley Temple cutesy-pie that no other soprano would have been able to pull off in Siporei Hoffman. What I'm saying is that directors, like choreographers, put the best aspects of their performers before the public. I really had a hard time with lying on the table all curled up, that didn't to me show any devotion towards it. Rather, Fleming was barely able to look or even touch it. That had more meaning for me.

But everyone to their own gout.

ZB