Massenet: Manon

This recording has been unavailable for too long. Recorded in 1970, a solid year-or-so before Beverly Sills' voice began to show the damage caused by singing Elisabetta I in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, this is the finest all-around recording of Manon on the market. Sills, in addition to being fresh-voiced, is so thoroughly in the part that we can chart Manon's downfall step by step; her girlish singing is as right on as her sassy, showy coloratura in the thirds act, and her St Sulpice scene is truly seductive. She's the perfect Manon. And Nicolai Gedda's Des Grieux, sung, as is Sills' Manon and the rest of the cast, in impeccable French, is passionate, madly in love, and ultimately tragic. Gabriel Bacquier's Count is imperious and authoritative and Gerard Souzay's Lescaut is smooth. Julius Rudel's leadership sparkles when it should and his sense of French suavity is unfailing. The score is given more than complete - as an appendix, there's an aria for Manon that Massenet added later. This is a desert island disc. --Robert Levine Amazon.com

5-stars!! Sills owned this role!

Until I heard Sills sing Manon in the 1970's I have to admit that it was not one of my favorite operas. This recording certainly does her justice, capturing the complexities of this role. It is an outstanding recording! (as an aside, if you have not seen it, go to youtube's recording of her farewell recital, where, as in all of her recitals, she closes with a Portugese folk song taught to her by her famous teacher Estelle Liebling. If this doesn't bring tears to your eyes, nothing will!). July 18, 2007

SILLS and a Perfect MANON.....

Enough has been written about Beverly Sills and the role of Manon that you already know that she OWNED the role for a long time.

This recording was originally issued on EMI, and I find it unusual that it should have disappeared from that label and it now appears on DG. Although it is strange, we need not worry about that; the main thing here is that the recording is again available to us.

You only really need two copies of Manon...the Victoria De Los Angeles one under Pierre Monteaux, and this one with Sills, Gedda, Bacquier, and Souzay under Julius Rudel. All participants here are simply wonderful, and all in very good voice as it happens! Usually we get a weak link, but somehow, the god's smiled on this effort, and everything came together wonderfully.

This is one of Gedda's efforts that I heartily commend! Simply a great des Griux! Souzay's Lescaut is really a wonderfully smooth, and mellow, performance that you need to hear. Gabriel Bacquier, AS ALWAYS turns in a magnificently commanding performance as Count des Griux. This of course brings us to the role of Manon. Simply stunning would be a great way to say it! Sills is just so real-life-bubbly girlish, and so lovely, that we are swept up in the swirl of mad love, right up to tragedy that comes to her, and the heart-wrenchingly sad finale.

This recording belongs in everyone's collection, right beside the Victoria De Los Angeles one! Enjoy! ~operabruin July 7, 2007

For Sills fans, mainly.

As good an ensemble as could be assembled in the more recent past, well conducted by the seasoned Rudel, this 1970 performance stands or falls by one's perception of the two principals.

Nicolaï Gedda (né Ustinov,) b. 1925, half-Swedish, half-Russian, was a fine musician with a highly developped vocal technique. His manner was rather cold, however, and at 45 his lyric voice had lost some of its original bloom. I find his des Grieux rather grim and emphatic, lacking in romantic élan. I much prefer the poetic Henri Legay in the definitive Monteux recording (TESTAMENT.)

Beverly Sills (née Silvermann,) b. 1929, American, studied with Estelle Liebling, a pupil of the legendary Mathilde Marchesi, teacher of Melba, Eames, Kurtz, Alda and many an other French stylist.

Sills new exactly how to sing this music and had the perfect voice and technique for it. Many years of repertory singing in the provinces, often in inappropriately heavy parts (Tosca!) however, had made Sills' voice thin and unsteady by the time she made this recording at age 41. Her interpretation is intense, heartfelt and full of telling dramatic detail, but often heavy-handed and unpleasant on the ear. She is also rather short on the elegance and chimeric charm that characterises the best interpreters of this part (Vallin, Heldy, Féraldy, de los Ángeles.)

The airplane hangar ambience of the recording studio (talk about overresonant!) does not help, either.

Incidentally, the rôle of Lescaut is sung (well) by Gerard SOUZAY.

Gabriel Bacquier sings comte des Grieux--very well indeed.

January 15, 2006

A Great Recording of an Opera That Should Be Performed More Often

Massanet's MANON is a work that is no stranger to the stage in New York City where it has had a glorious history at both the Met and the New York City Opera though this is not the case around the world. Its frequent New York performances may make it Massanet's most staged opera. For those familiar with the work, it is a favorite. It has all the elements that make French opera great, but it is not a work that has familiar excerpts. As a matter of fact, Massanet's bets known melodies are from lesser known works, such as the "Meditation" from THAIS and Porquoi me Revelier" from WERTHER. Yet when MANON is broadcast from the Met or if one takes out a recording, it's easy to understand why this work has been a favorite of so many for over a century and begs the question `Why isn't this work performed more often?'

Like great French opera, MANON is a work that is a bit larger than life, requires exquisite orchestral playing, and of course great singing. This set, originally released by Westminster in the 1970's and re-released by Duetsche Grammophon has it all. The vocal abilities of the three leading performers: Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda and Gabriel Bacquier as Manon, des Grieux, and Lescaut respectively are each in top vocal form. Sills herself states that Manon was a role she loved and one that she believed her voice was well suited for, and there can be no disputation when listening to this set. As a conductor, Julius Rudel is at his best. He has great control over the New Philharmonia Orchestra, creating lush sounds that make the recording spectacular and an added, but essential plus would be the outstanding choral performances by the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and the great performances of the smaller roles.

Just about every reviewer, from Amazon reviewers to the critics who write for OPERA NEWS have heralded the new availability of this recording. Listen to it, and you will understand why and echo the many praises of this set.

Enjoy!
October 8, 2005

Beverly Sills Signature Role

Beverly Sills once said that if she was to be remembered for anything, it should be for "Manon". This is the role that catapulted her to opera superstardom. And she made this recording in 1970, when her voice still had all its youthful freshness and vigor, and shows just why Beverly Sills had such a great reputation. It has been said that Massenet wrote for his soprano, and nowhere is that more true than in the title role of this opera. And Sills does the role complete justice, vocally demonstrating in her singing the downfall of Manon from young innocent girl to demimondaine to despair and death. Her rendition of the great aria "Adieu, notre petite table", is incredibly moving. And the rest of the cast is excellent as well. Nicolai Gedda is supremely stylish as Des Grieux, Gabriel Bacquier strong and forthright as his father, and one gets to hear the late Gerard Souzay, famous primarily as a concert artist, singing a rare opera role as Lescaut, Manon's cousin. Julius Rudel conducts cleanly, making the most of Massenet's lush orchestrations. This recording belongs on the shelf of every opera lover. December 16, 2004

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