Act One

The action takes place in Amiens, Paris, and on the roads to Le Havre in the first half of the eighteenth century, around 1730. In the large courtyard of an inn in Amiens, Guillot and Brétigny, accompanied by the actresses Pousette, Javotte, and Rosette, impatiently call to an innkeeper for food and drink. Finally, the innkeeper shows up and tells them that the afternoon bread is being brought in, and they begin discussing the menu and enter the dining room. A bell rings as numerous travelers arrive with bags, and people from the city fill the courtyard to gawk at the arrivals. In the crowd is Lescaut with two guards; he has just come from gambling in order to meet his 15-year-old cousin, Manon, who is on her way to join a cloister, under her parents' orders. When Manon enters, she reveals that this is her first time away from home ("Je suis encore tout étourdie").

Another ring of the bell makes the crowd disperse and head for the carriage. Momentarily, Manon is left behind as Lescaut leaves to fetch her luggage. Guillot comes out of the dining room and into the courtyard to find the innkeeper, who still has not brought him any wine. When he sees Manon he is transfixed. He introduces himself to Manon, telling her that he has a lot of money and would gladly give her some if she would say a few sweet words to him. Manon rejects Guillot and his friends laugh at him. Guillot then puts his coach at Manon's disposal, telling her it will leave in a few moments. As Guillot tells her this, Lescaut returns, warns Manon about being led astray, then runs back to his poker game. Brétigny and the women call out from the dining room about the delay.

Thoughtfully, Manon sits down on a bench, noting that life simultaneously entices and oppresses her. Grieux, having missed his coach, finds Manon in her confused, pensive state. He believes that in no way should such vibrant beauty be allowed to wither behind the walls of a cloister. Manon finds herself powerless against such words of wooing, and the two ride off in Guillot's coach. Lescaut returns and accuses Guillot of abducting his cousin, but the innkeeper clears up the situation by informing them that Manon has left with another man. As Brétigny mocks Guillot's bad luck, Guillot swears revenge, and Lescaut raves about family honor, the curtain falls.



Act Two

At Grieux and Manon's apartment in the rue Vivienne, Paris, Grieux writes a letter to his father, the Count des Grieux, asking permission to marry Manon. After reading the letter back to Grieux, Manon wonders why it is not enough that they simply remain lovers. Grieux notices a bunch of flowers and jealously asks Manon who gave them to her. Manon replies that an unknown person tossed them through the window. The servant announces the arrival of two soldiers, one of whom is Lescaut and the other, in disguise, is Brétigny, who also has designs on Manon. As Lescaut begins to rage about his family's honor, Grieux shows him the letter concerning his proposed marriage to Manon. This calms Lescaut but angers Brétigny, who surreptitiously tells Manon that Grieux will be abducted that night by his father's henchmen. If she insists on escaping with Grieux, Grieux's father will disinherit his son, leaving him penniless. If, however, she abandons Grieux, she will share the Brétigny fortune. Manon convinces herself that she is not worthy of Grieux and that she should accept Brétigny's offer. She sings a farewell to the domestic life she has come to treasure and tries to hide her torment from Grieux, who tells her of the pleasant life they will have together. There is a knock at the door. When Grieux answers it, he is abducted.



Act Three

Lescaut, the three actresses, Guillot, and Brétigny are on the Cours-la-Reine. The actresses ignore Guillot, who taunts Brétigny because he refused Manon's wish to have members of the Opéra perform in his home. After Manon enters with Brétigny, she overhears an exchange between Brétigny and the Count des Grieux, who relates that his son is taking holy orders and will give his first sermon later that day at St. Sulpice. Manon questions the Count about his son as Guillot brings in the Opéra ballet company to impress Manon. Manon is not interested and requests that her coach take her to St. Sulpice, once again humiliating Guillot.

The scene changes to the parlor of the seminary at St. Sulpice. At the church, women speak highly of the new abbé. The Count tries to talk his son out of completing his holy orders, offering to give him some of his inheritance. Grieux is unmoved, for this is the only way to forget Manon. He leaves to take his orders. Manon enters and asks to see Grieux. When he appears he angrily asks her to leave. She asks him to forgive her and remember their previous love. After touching Manon, Grieux gives in and the two run off again.



Act Four

Lescaut, the actresses, and others gamble at the Hôtel de Transylvanie. Lescaut cheats, and Guillot recites satirical verses about the Regent. Manon enters with Grieux, whose inheritance is almost gone; he is trying to make money at the gambling table. Guillot involves Grieux in a game and accuses Grieux of cheating. Guillot leaves and returns with the police, who arrest Grieux and Manon, pleasing Grieux's father.



Act Five

The setting is the road to Le Havre. Grieux has been freed from jail, but Manon is being deported to the colonies. On the way, Lescaut and Grieux bribe one of the escorts so that they may speak with Manon. Grieux and Manon are left alone. Manon bags for forgiveness while reminiscing over past events. Exhausted, she dies in Grieux's arms.

© All Music Guide

Manon (opera; in English)

The libretto for this work, by playwright Henri Meilhac (1831-1897) and journalist Philippe Gille, is based on the novel, L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, by Abbé Prévost (1697-1763), published in 1731. Earlier musical interpretations of the novel include a ballet by Halévy of 1830, an opera by Michael Balfe of 1836, and Auber's opera of 1856. Puccini's Manon Lescaut appeared in 1908. Meilhac and Gille's libretto conforms to the original more than does Auber's, and most of their changes are made with the drama in mind. For instance, they reduce the number of times Manon leaves des Grieux from three to one; Lescaut is changed from Manon's brother to her cousin; and Manon's death takes place on the way to Le Havre, not in Louisiana.

In 1882, Massenet and his collaborators finalized the form of the libretto, which the composer then set in piano/vocal format. Orchestration was completed in the summer of 1883. Manon was first performed on January 19, 1884, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Although the opera received a mixed reception by critics, the public loved it, and it remained in the repertory of the Opéra-Comique until 1959, with over 2,000 performances. By late 1885, Manon was playing in New York.

Massenet was aware of Opéra-Comique director Léon Carvalho's tendency to alter the works premiering at his establishment. To combat this, Massenet had the score of Manon printed before rehearsals began. Nevertheless, the composer himself later made some changes, adding Manon's Gavotte in 1884 and changing the same number to the "Fabliau" 10 years later.

Manon is less impressive as a whole than as a succession of striking numbers. Retaining the novel's eighteenth century setting, the opera offers noisy crowd scenes, passionate duets, and tense melodramas that certainly pleased Opéra-Comique patrons. Fortunately, the traditions of French Opéra-Comique formed a good fit with Prévost's eighteenth century novel.

Variety is at the heart of Manon. Spoken dialogue, such as Guillot's "Hôtelier de malheur," from the first act, alternates with several different types of melodrama. Some of the melodrama sections employ the traditional spoken dialogue set against a simple, sustained orchestral backdrop, such as the Count's "Bravo, mon cher, succès complet!" in the St. Sulpice scenes in the third act. Other melodrama passages blatantly make use of important motives from the opera, such as Brétigny's "Jamais plus doux regard n'illumina plus gracieux visage" in the first act, which incorporates Manon's theme. Recitatives vary from those that conform to the prosody of the text to others that are more song-like, such as Lescaut's "Mademoiselle est ma cousine," from Act Two.

Massenet adroitly conveys the essence of the drama through music. For example, Manon's first aria, "Je suis encore tout étourdie," perfectly characterizes the young Manon in its hesitancy. "N'est-ce plus ma main," which closes the third act, boasts a scintillating, erotically charged violin gesture at the moment the lovers touch. Perhaps most impressive are the Cours-la-Reine scenes, which are connected in rondo fashion, supporting the shifting of focus from one character to another and then back.

© John Palmer, Rovi