This was a wonderful, imaginative and moving production of a work which, until now, while I had enjoyed, I had taken/experienced as somewhat on the lighter side of the operatic experience. But this production opened my eyes and made it a piece of magnificent grandeur and power.
This was due to a combination of performance and production. The singers, all young and with the first-rate acting capabilities that all such singers seem to have/need now, were excellent, sounding appropriately stylish in what was for none of them I think, their native language. Until now I had always felt that the best performances of French opera in general (and Massenet in particular) were necessarily dependent on having native singers but it seems, not so.
The performance was a staged but safely distanced one. There were only ever a maximum of 6 or so people on stage, the chorus singing from boxes in the theatre - the occasional cutaways to them during the performance being slightly irritating as it broke the dramatic experience. This meant certain scenes were slightly less successful than others, particularly in the party scenes in Acts 3 and 4 but this was not a major problem. Once it had started I found myself intrigued as to how they were going to show physical passion with no physical touching but they did so -very effectively and powerfully. In fact the sole time that the two principals touched was in the dying moments of the opera where their hands were allowed to touch very briefly before they died - interestingly, Manon committed suicide, fairly soon after her appearance in the final act and Des Grieux followed - neither act I think ‘in the script’ but very powerful and it felt right as well as adding to the tragic power of the final act.
Each act was preceded by a little bit of flickering black and white film, always featuring a cat as that was what Manon first appears with and each little bit of film was appropriate to the ensuing act, most effectively with Act 3 where we had a complicated silhouette dance sequence a la Busby Berkley and, powerfully for the last act, bloodstained footprints in the snow revealing then the dead cat. Sounds rather too grim but it was very effective and appropriate.
the modern dress setting was for almost all the time very effective - when Manon first appears her appearance with an unsophisticated woollen hat and scarf summed her up very well (and its re-appearance later on was a poignant little reminder of their past love). However the only detail that did grate was when we read about her being ‘sent to a convent’. This just did not click and I wonder what a modern equivalent could be…
The set for Act 3 where she is at her social peak was excellent with glittering curtains and an illuminated sign, which in the final act, made a poignant re-appearance, broken and lying on the bare, dark ground. The nightclub setting (the film before the action well established her as a start performer, and the setting provided a very dramatically appropriate setting for the gavotte which can seem, in a traditional production, rather dramatically static as we all halt to hear the big spectacular number. |Here it was much more organically a part of the story. But the Covid-necessary non-crowds did jar a little…
The production was full of lovely thoughtful details - like the Abbe Des Grieux feeding stray cats at St Sulpice as a nice reminder of Manon and hers and a neat sign that he had not really forgotten her. And her mirroring of the crucifix pose at the end of this act was very smartly and dramatically appropriate and effective. And it was also here that she puled out the knitted hat from the start showing well her manipulative side - but not enough as to make us lose sympathy for her, finally.
the saloon in Act 4 was a sleazy version of the glam club that Manon dominated in Act 3 and a good reminder of her ongoing fall from the social heights. Reality is finally intruding into her world. But I am not sure at how well the Russian Roulette device as the gambling deb=vice worked; it was rather tricky to see how and why it came about. and I was not wholly convinced by it.
the brief final act was very vivid. we are now in a blackened pit, lit by pools of light and with the broken neon sign of Manon’s great triumph lying in the background. Both commit suicide - Manon shortly after she appears (by drinking poison) and Des G by a knife at the wrist - again as I said, not ‘in the script’ but more than plausible and certainly dramatically very successful.
So, a superbly powerful and convincing production and performance that made a very strong case for this being a significant work and not mere Belle-Epoque frippery as it can often be played.
Manon Lescaut Elsa Dreisig
Poussette Elbenita Kajtazi
Javotte Narea Son
Rosette Ida Aldrian
Le Chevalier Des Grieux Ioan Hotea
Le Comte Des Grieux Dimitry Ivashchenko
Lescaut Björn Bürger
Guillot-Morfontaine Daniel Kluge
de Brétigny Alexey Bogdanchikov
An innkeeper Martin Summer
Guard 1 Collin André Schöning Guard 2 Hubert Kowalczyk
Conductor Sébastien Rouland