Auber - Manon Lescaut (Pierre Jourdan) [1990]

The opening credits of this disc refer to is as 'The other Manon'. Most opera fans will be familiar with the operas on the subject of Manon Lescaut by Puccini and Massenet, but this opera comique, dating from 1856, predates both of them, and was popular enough in its day. The story is very different in most respects from those of the more familiar operas; Manon and her friend Marguerite are seamstresses; she loves des Greeiux, but is persued by the Marquis d'Herigny, who is the commanding officer of her brother's regiment; he insists that her brother helps him to seduce her. This is achieved by putting des Grieux in the awkward position of being unable to settle a restaurant bill; to preserve his honour he obtains the money by enlisting in d'Herigny's regiment, thus putting him in his rival's power…
The opera is constructed very much as a showpiece for a colouratura soprano, with the other characters as much smaller roles. Like the other releases at the same time from the Theatre Imperial de Compiegne, there are no subtitles; unlike the other releases, I have not been able to find a libretto online, although there are a few reviews and synopses.
By Mrs. E. Watts (Barnsley England)

Performer:
Manon Lescaut - Elisabeth Vidal
Le Chevalier des Grieux - Alain Gabriel
Le Marquis d'Héringny - Réne Massis
Lescaut - Andre Cognet
Marguerite - Brigitte Lafon
Gervais - Alexandre Laiter
Renaud / Le Sergent - Gilles Dubernet
Durozeau – Dominique Longuet
Mme Bancelin – Marie-Thérèse Orain
Zabi - Catherine Estourelle
Chœurs du Théâtre Français de la Musique
Orchestre Régional de Picardie « La Simfonietta »
Direction - Patrick Fournillier
Direction artistique et réalisation - Pierre Jourdan

ADMLPJ