What Opera Are You Listening to Now?

[JBS]

Well, Prevost didn't know that. All he knew was that Louisiana was a far away land owned by France and situated right in the middle of wilderness. He might be excused for his imaginary geography. 

But Puccini and his gaggle of librettists knew more. Massenet set the final scene in France, with Manon dying from the rigors of being marched to the deportation ship.

Of course, we could just put it down to Des Grieux being highly inept at wilderness survival techniques. Aside from eloping off to Paris at the end of Act I, almost everything he tries to do in the opera ends up failing.

[Florestan]

But Puccini and his gaggle of librettists knew more. Massenet set the final scene in France, with Manon dying from the rigors of being marched to the deportation ship.

Well, Puccini and his gaggle of librettists were more melodramatic than Massenet and his gaggle. In which part of France could Manon have been really and truly sola, perduta, abbandonata?

[ritter]

... In which part of France could Manon have been really and truly sola, perduta, abbandonata?

Perhaps "in questo popoloso deserto che appellano Parigi"? 

[ritter]

Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 1960, live from the Felsereitschule in Salzburg in 2021, with vocal soloists, the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, and the Vienna Philharmonic, all under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher. The staging is by Jan Lauwers.



I got this because, AFAIK, the commercially released recordings of the work —I own the one led by Bernard Kontarsky from Stuttgart on Teldec, and there's a later one from Bremen on a small label— are in German translation, while this Salzburg Festival is in the original language(s).

This is a strong, gripping work, but with moments of great expressive beauty (Nono had a very personal but also very effective way of treating the human voice —- both solo and in choirs).

Unfortunately, I think that the staging isn't successful. The director resorts to a dance company and to what I understand is a theatre group, and there's too much going on all the time on the stage.

The constant violence distracts from the work, rather than strengthen it (even if some striking images are achieved every now and then). Musically, the performance is first-rate.

[JBS]

From the Warner Puccini set

[San Antone]

But Puccini and his gaggle of librettists knew more. Massenet set the final scene in France, with Manon dying from the rigors of being marched to the deportation ship.

Of course, we could just put it down to Des Grieux being highly inept at wilderness survival techniques. Aside from eloping off to Paris at the end of Act I, almost everything he tries to do in the opera ends up failing.

The opera was composed between 1889 and 1892 at which time, Louisiana looked like it does today:



The Louisiana Purchase was in 1803 and by 1892 one would imagine news had gotten to Italy and France.

[JBS]

First time ever hearing this.
The liner notes on this release are useless: lots of fluff about Pergolesi's talents, almost nothing about the opera, but manages to instruct us on the proper pronounciation of the names Dufay and Macbeth.

[Florestan]

The opera was composed between 1889 and 1892 at which time, Louisiana looked like it does today:



The Louisiana Purchase was in 1803 and by 1892 one would imagine news had gotten to Italy and France.

True but irrelevant. Manon Lescaut was published in 1731. Here's Louisiana in 1734:

[ritter]

[André]

Le Coeur du moulin is a pastoral opera written on a libretto by writer Maurice Magre. Its subject is along the lines of Mireille, A Village Romeo and Juliet, Il Tabarro and other plots where the life of ordinary folks is the context in which a love story/triangle takes place. The lyrics would be more appropriate if the characters were bourgeois than peasants. The moulin of the story is the village mill.

Séverac's music if very sweet in an impressionist idiom. It's short (75 mins) and does not overstay its welcome. A nice, if not essential listening.

[San Antone]

Puccini: Manon Lescaut
Riccardo Chailly (Conductor), Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Orchestra), Kiri Te Kanawa (Performer), José Carreras (Performer), Paolo Coni (Performer), Italo Tajo (Performer), William Matteuzzi (Performer), Margarita Zimmermann (Performer), Piero de Palma (Performer)

[ritter]

Puccini: Manon Lescaut
Riccardo Chailly (Conductor), Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Orchestra), Kiri Te Kanawa (Performer), José Carreras (Performer), Paolo Coni (Performer), Italo Tajo (Performer), William Matteuzzi (Performer), Margarita Zimmermann (Performer), Piero de Palma (Performer)

Nice... but that thing about the Louisiana desert continues to bug me....

I don't know that recording. My favourite remains the Sinopoli with Freni and Domingo.

[JBS]

Another opera I've never heard until now

Angela Nisi was the soprano soloist on the Pergolesi CD I listened to yesterday.

[San Antone]

Nice... but that thing about the Louisiana desert continues to bug me....

I don't know that recording. My favourite remains the Sinopoli with Freni and Domingo.

Domingo made a career with this work, but I often try out other singers.  Te Kanawa is very good; Chailly and the orchestra do a fine job.  It's enjoyable, but I doubt would replace your favorite.

[ChamberNut]

@Florestan
@Lisztianwagner

I'm diving deep into the ocean with no life jacket or raft.    First listen ever to a Verdi opera.

Edit: I must say I am enjoying this.

Via: Presto streaming

Verdi

Nabucco, Act I

[Florestan]

Nice... but that thing about the Louisiana desert continues to bug me....

Such a fuss (not by you) about poor Prevost situating a desert in early 18thC Louisiana. How about Shakespeare, for whom Bohemia had both a desert and a coastline? The undisputed first prize in imaginary geography, though, goes to Offenbach, Meilhac and Halevy: Act II of Les brigands take place at the border between Italy and Spain.

[Florestan]

@Florestan
@Lisztianwagner

I'm diving deep into the ocean with no life jacket or raft.    First listen ever to a Verdi opera.

Edit: I must say I am enjoying this.

Via: Presto streaming

Verdi

Nabucco, Act I

Excellent news, great recording!

[Lisztianwagner]

@Florestan
@Lisztianwagner

I'm diving deep into the ocean with no life jacket or raft.    First listen ever to a Verdi opera.

Edit: I must say I am enjoying this.

Via: Presto streaming

Verdi

Nabucco, Act I

Great, although Verdi isn't my favourite composer, I hope you'll like it and then you'll continue exploring the Opera world! Sinopoli is always an excellent choice.

[Madiel]

Such a fuss (not by you) about poor Prevost situating a desert in early 18thC Louisiana. How about Shakespeare, for whom Bohemia had both a desert and a coastline? The undisputed first prize in imaginary geography, though, goes to Offenbach, Meilhac and Halevy: Act II of Les brigands take place at the border between Italy and Spain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Naples

Though admittedly that isn't really on the way between Granada and Mantua...

[Florestan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Naples

Though admittedly that isn't really on the way between Granada and Mantua...

Exactly.