The World's Most Famous Operas: "Manon"

The World's Most Famous Operas

"Manon"

Music: Jules Massenet (1842–1912)

Arabized by: Samir Shikhani

An opera in five acts, adapted from the story "Manon Lescaut" by Father Marcel Prévost.

First produced in Paris in 1884.

The Characters:

• Lescaut, a member of the Royal Guard
• Manon Lescaut, his kinswoman
• The Chevalier des Grieux
• The Count des Grieux, his father
• De Brétigny, a nobleman
• Guillot de Morfontaine, a minister of France

An innkeeper, actresses, porters, a servant, townsfolk, travelers, vendors, gamblers, a sergeant in the army.

Time: the year 1721

Place: the city of Amiens; Paris; on the road to the port of Le Havre.

Act One

The scene: the courtyard of an inn in the city of Amiens.

A great crowd of people has gathered in the courtyard of the inn, awaiting the traveling coach, whose arrival is now imminent. At one side of the courtyard stands a private pavilion where refreshments are served, and from within, from time to time, come peals of boisterous merriment from two noblemen — one middle-aged, the other young — taking their meal in the company of three elegantly dressed women.

The middle-aged man is a member of the government named Guillot; the young one is of the aristocratic class, named De Brétigny. Among the crowd stands an officer resplendent in the bright-colored uniform of the Royal Guard. It is Lescaut, come to meet his cousin Manon.

The coach draws up and Manon alights — a beautiful girl, good-hearted but flighty, leaving her home for the first time, on her way to the convent. Lescaut had never seen his kinswoman before, and he was delighted to find her a naive beauty. He goes off to look for her luggage, and in the meantime Guillot comes out of the private pavilion.

Since every pretty girl is in his eyes lawful prey, he begins flirting with Manon straightway. His companions, making merry inside the pavilion, call him back to them; before answering the call he tells Manon that he has ordered a carriage brought round, and invites her to accompany him. At that moment Lescaut returns, and Guillot withdraws in confusion. Lescaut warns Manon against Guillot, asking her to cut off every tie with him, for he is a man of fallen morals and cunning. Then he leaves her once more, on the pretext of attending to some business, begging her not to leave her place or speak with strangers.

Manon waits in the courtyard, bashful and shy, envying the three girls who seem to be passing a pleasant time inside the pavilion, and grieving that she will soon withdraw from the world and its delights and retire behind the quiet walls of the convent.

At that moment there arrives a young man of handsome appearance — the aristocrat, the Chevalier des Grieux. A glance, then a smile... then love. And when Guillot's coachman appears, saying that his carriage is at Manon's disposal, the Chevalier and Manon cannot withstand the overwhelming temptation: they board the carriage on its way to Paris, just as Lescaut and Guillot return, astonished at what has happened and furious at Manon's disappearance. The innkeeper explains that the two have left in the carriage, and the assembled crowd bursts out laughing at Guillot, who boils with rage and swears to be avenged on Manon and her mad kinsman Lescaut.

Act Two

The scene: Des Grieux's house in Paris.

Manon is radiant with happiness at the side of her besotted new lover, the Chevalier des Grieux, in his house in Paris. Des Grieux is penning a letter to his father, asking his leave to marry Manon, while she stands behind him, reading over his head the glowing phrases in which he describes her. Their privacy is broken by a servant announcing the arrival of two visitors: Lescaut, and the nobleman De Brétigny, who had been courting Manon with bouquets of flowers. With anger and bluster Lescaut demands satisfaction from Des Grieux for the insult done to his family's honor; Des Grieux calms him, shows him the letter he is about to send to his father, and assures him that his intentions are honorable.

While the two are deep in talk, De Brétigny draws Manon a little aside and tells her that the Count, Des Grieux's father, will disinherit his son if he marries her. He tells her, moreover, that the Count has a plan to carry his son off from her that very night. If she truly loves Des Grieux, let her keep this from him, so as not to bring about his ruin; and let her rely upon him, and upon his devotion and his presence, after her beloved's departure. The visitors take their leave with great politeness, and Des Grieux goes out to post his letter, leaving Manon to sing a touching song of farewell addressed to the little table at which the two had taken their supper: "Farewell, our little table."

On Des Grieux's return to the room, he sings a beautiful song brimming over with happiness and peace, in which he tells her that he dreams of a tranquil life in a country cottage.

Suddenly a knock is heard at the door. Manon begs her beloved to stay beside her, but he opens the door. A struggle follows, ending in the seizure of Des Grieux, whom his abductors carry off. Then Manon understands that her short-lived happiness is at an end, and, left alone, she sings a song from the depths of her broken heart, beginning "My poor Chevalier."

Act Three

First scene: the Queen's promenade in Paris.

The public square teems with sellers and buyers, and with revelers raising a din — among them Lescaut, the three young women, and Guillot, who has sworn vengeance on Manon and Des Grieux. Soon Manon arrives on the arm of De Brétigny, who has become her lover since Des Grieux went away. She appears happy and gay as ever, the belle of the city, and sings a light song that carries her philosophy of life, entitled "Gather, O rosebuds, while you may."

Into the square comes the Count des Grieux, the Chevalier's father, a stubborn aristocrat. Manon hears him telling De Brétigny that the young Chevalier has entered the seminary attached to the church of "Saint-Sulpice." Manon finds a pretext for speaking with the Count alone, and through her sly questioning she discovers that Des Grieux still loves her. As the curtain falls she orders her kinsman Lescaut to fetch her carriage, for she is going with all speed to the church of "Saint-Sulpice."

Second scene: the seminary of Saint-Sulpice.

The Chevalier des Grieux is on the point of becoming a priest. We hear first a group of ladies admiring a sermon this young man has delivered, and praising his modest, sober conduct. His father the Count comes to visit him and to try to turn him from his resolve to enter the priesthood. But the young man is fixed in his final determination, and after his father goes away disappointed he does not conceal the reason: he is entering the Church only to forget Manon. Presently he sings the song "Ah, depart, sweet vision."

Hardly has he left the stage when the "sweet vision" herself appears — Manon — come to ask for Des Grieux. The porter goes to call him, and she hears the choir chanting, her lips murmuring in prayer. Des Grieux returns and tries to harden his heart against the temptation she embodies, but he cannot withstand her tears and her entreaties that he return to her arms. In a long, moving song that the two sing together, Des Grieux weakens little by little. At last he cries out, "Ah, come, Manon — I love you!" and forsakes the Church. The two rush out of the door together.

Act Four

The scene: the Hôtel de Transylvanie, one of the gambling clubs of Paris.

Manon and Des Grieux, united once more, come to a sumptuous, elegant hall given over to gambling and thronged with gamblers. Manon, arrayed in the most splendid finery and decked in the costliest jewels, urges her companion to try his luck. Though he shows some hesitation at first, he is soon persuaded to join the play, especially after being challenged by Guillot, who has been set upon revenge ever since Manon turned away from him at Amiens. While the two are deep in wagers of enormous sums, Manon's voice rings out in a song that carries her philosophy of life: "Youth passes, and beauty fades; let us turn all our desires to drinking deep of pleasures."

Meanwhile fortune favors Des Grieux. Guillot, the loser, rises in a fury of rage and accuses him of cheating. The young Chevalier denies the charge with heat and sharpness. But Guillot hurries outside, and before long returns accompanied by several policemen, who arrest Des Grieux and Manon on a charge of cheating at play. Des Grieux attempts resistance, when suddenly his father the Count appears and begs the soldiers to do their duty. He whispers in his son's ear that by his influence he will shortly have him set at liberty; Des Grieux pays no heed and tries to go on resisting, but the soldiers drag him away, together with the wretched Manon, and the curtain falls.

Act Five

The scene: a road near Le Havre.

The days pass, and behold: Manon is sentenced to banishment to one of the colonies, while the Chevalier des Grieux is set free thanks to the influence of his father the Count. And here he is, seeking Lescaut's help in a plan to rescue poor Manon with the aid of some hired desperadoes. When the curtain rises, Lescaut informs him that the desperadoes have all fled, and no hope remains but bribery. Des Grieux hands him all the money he carries, and Lescaut succeeds in his errand. No sooner do the soldiers pass with the prisoners in their charge than he signals to the guard escorting Manon, who walks at the rear; the man comes over to him, and Lescaut hands him a tidy sum of money.

But the Manon whom Des Grieux now welcomes with overflowing joy is not the Manon of old, gay and carefree. She is sorrowful, and sick unto death; and though she knows her beloved, she does not answer his entreaties to flee with him. Her thoughts wander little by little, and before long she sinks to the ground.

In her lover's arms she breathes her last by the roadside, repeating that touching final line of the opera:

"And this is the story of Manon." Des Grieux cannot bear the sight; he falls upon her body, broken-hearted...