Manon Lescaut (Auber)

Manon Lescaut is an opera or opéra comique in 3 acts by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe, and, like Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Massenet's Manon, is based on the Abbé Prévost's story Manon Lescaut. Auber's version is the least-performed of the three.

Performance history

The opera was premièred on 23 February 1856 by the Opéra-Comique at the second Salle Favart in Paris. It was the first work to be staged by that company that did not have a happy ending.Loewenberg A. Annals of Opera. London, John Calder, 1978. However, it subsequently disappeared from the repertory.

In North America, the opera was performed once around 1977 in New York City by a small opera company, and another live performance occurred in 2006, given by the Lyric Opera of Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Theatre.

In 1990, it was staged at the Opéra Comique de Paris with the Picardy Sinfonietta in Amiens conducted by Patrick Fournillier. Next year the live recording of the opera was released by the French label Le Chant du Monde. Another stage performance took place at the Wexford Festival in October/November, 2002.

Roles

Synopsis

The story only loosely resembles the original novel by Prévost (where, for instance, Lescaut is Manon's...
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