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Reviews
Live from the Metropolitan Opera: Manon Lescaut (1980)
Superb on the screen and on the stage
I had the absolute joy of seeing this version of "Manon Lescaut" on the stage at the Metropolitan Opera as it was actually being taped...which makes it all the more wonderful, because I can watch it on the screen, and remember being there as it happened.
Renata Scotto was easily one of the best singing actresses ever to grace the stage of the Met, and in this performance she absolutely outdid herself, singing as wonderfully as she acted, and looking adorable besides. Plus, she had the extra added benefit of appearing opposite Placido Domingo...a stunning Des Grieux, young and virile and incredibly handsome, with a voice of cream and gold.
The Met production was a wonder, only a bit of which translates well onto the videotape; this was still in the relatively primitive days of recording live performances. But for sheer dramatic thrill, and pure sonic sex, this "Manon Lescaut" cannot be beat.
The high point for me? Des Grieux's 3rd Act aria, "No, pazzo son! Guardate!" What the viewer cannot see on the video, unfortunately, because there was no way of doing a real close-up of the singer's face, were the tears that were actually streaming down Domingo's face as he pleaded with the captain to allow him to accompany Manon to her exile in America. I was sitting first row, dead center, right behind James Levine's waving arms, and with my opera glasses trained on Domingo's face, I can tell you that he was crying -- really crying. At the end of that act, the entire standing room only audience was cheering, laughing and crying right along with him...
Bravissimo, Domingo!!
Manon Lescaut (1983)
Another superlative version
I'm probably more partial to the Met version from 1980 because 1) I was actually there, in the first row center, during the performance that was being taped for posterity, and was able to watch it up close, and listen to those glorious voices live, and 2) I believe, as does the earlier reviewer, that Renata Scotto's acting made Manon come alive...and met Domingo's Des Grieux heartache for heartache, which is no mean feat.
But in the vocal department, as good as Scotto was -- and she was VERY good -- Te Kanewa was absolutely glorious. Her voice was one of the most beautiful ever to grace the opera stage -- supremely sweet, strong and supple, with floated high notes that must be heard to be believed.
So it's a toss-up, really. The anchor for both versions, of course, is Domingo. There has never been -- and there never will be again -- a tenor who had a voice of such stunning beauty and dark strength, incredible acting ability, and amazing good looks. He had it all, and in both this version, made when he was 42 years old, and in the earlier Renata Scotto version of "Manon Lescaut", when he was 39, he was in his absolute prime.
Interested opera fans should view both versions...decide for yourself which you prefer. You certainly can't go wrong with either one.