Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" & Massenet's "Manon"
Slrdsyj
faithful are Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" and Massenet's "Manon" to the original
French novel? Which opera is more faithful? Are they both popular? Which
one is performed more often? How do the melodies in both works compare to
each other?
Mike Richter
My, that's quite a collection of questions. I assume that you know that
those are not the only two operas derived from the book; Aubert's is
also quite attractive, though rarely performed.
Puccini's and Massenet's settings are comparably popular and performed
comparably often, though more in their 'native lands' than elsewhere.
They call for quite different voices: Massenet's wants more lyric
singers as both Manon and des Grieux, where Puccini wants spinto or
dramatic voices. Few singers can handle both settings with comparable ease.
Sailbad Sinner
> ... Which opera is more faithful? ...
I recently read a book about Puccini (can't remember the name of that
book, I borrowed it from the library). It said that Puccini and his
librettist made some deliberate changes so as not to be too close to
Massenet's work.
Mark D Lew
Sinner <ante...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I recently read a book about Puccini (can't remember the name of that
> book, I borrowed it from the library). It said that Puccini and his
> librettist made some deliberate changes so as not to be too close to
> Massenet's work.
Puccini had several librettists in the long course of creating his
Manon Lescaut libretto. He did indeed specify that he wanted his opera
to avoid emphasizing the scenes which were most prominent in Massenet's
opera. (Both of the better-known tenor arias from Massenet's Manon --
En ferment les yeux and Ah, fuyez, douce image -- are in scenes which
are completely absent in Puccini's version.)
On the whole, I'd say that Massenet's libretto adheres more closely to
Abbé Prevost's story, but both take liberties. The story is too long
for conversion to opera without eliminating some scenes; the two
composers made different choices with regard to which parts to omit.
Puccini's opera breezes past the time that Des Grieux and Manon spend
living together, describing it in retrospect but never actually
displaying it on stage. In Massenet's version this makes up about half
the opera (acts 2 and 3). In Puccini's, act 1 ends up with them
running off together, and act 2 begins with Manon already having moved
in with Geronte.
Massenet's opera, on the other hand, avoids the journey to the New
World and Manon's demise there, choosing to have her die on the road to
Le Havre instead.
The first complete version of the libretto written for Puccini (by
Praga and Oliva) did include an act with the two lovers together. That
was act 2, with the other three acts roughly corresponding to what
became acts 1, 2 and 4 in the final version.
According to Praga's memoirs, Puccini was initially pleased with this
version (as was Paolo Tosti, who was present at the reading), but he
later rejected it. Puccini's change was to reject the second act
altogether and instead insert a new third act which would combine an
evocative mood and an act of great dramatic tension. This would become
a formula for Puccini. In most of his operas, the second intermission
is followed by a quiet setting heavy with atmosphere (usually in the
early morning) leading slowly but inexorably to a dramatic storm.
mdl
comes...@hotmail.com
"The Victor Book of Operas", this nutshell assessment: "Puccini presents
four relatively detached scenes that follow the novel rather closely;
Massenet departs somewhat from the novel in order to present a more
unified drama. Puccini's opera makes no attempt to be anything other
than Italian opera; Massenet's is thoroughly French in character; both
remain favorites."
~ Roger