Music
The role of Manon Lescaut is a demanding one, with a very high tessitura, extended florid passages and arias of outstanding technical difficulty. Nonetheless, it also presents great opportunities for characterisation and (at least before the appearance of the operas on the same subject by Puccini and Massenet) was one of the staples of the operatic repertoire - not only in France, but also in Germany. The role of the Marquis d'Herigny, written for the famous baritone, Jean-Baptiste Faure, also features several significant solos; but the tenor role of Des Grieux (given two major arias by Massenet and three by Puccini) lacks a major solo, although the character does participate in a series of fine duets, notably at the death of Manon near the end of the opera.
One number in the score has retained its popularity with coloratura sopranos. This is Manon's solo, "C'est l'histoire amoureuse", also known as "L'éclat de rire" or the Laughing Song. It is not a free-standing aria - in fact, it forms part of the Act 1 finale - but ever since its creation it has been a chosen showcase for the technique of singers such as Adelina Patti (who sang it during the lesson scene in The Barber of Seville), Amelita Galli-Curci, Joan Sutherland and Edita Gruberová.
Read more about this topic: Manon Lescaut (Auber)
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Nothing is capable of being well set to music that is not nonsense.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“Words move, music moves
Only in time; but that which is only living
Can only die. Words, after speech, reach
Into the silence.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“It is hard to describe the thrill of creative joy which the artist feels when the conviction seizes her that at last she has caught the very soul of the character she wishes to portray, in the music and action which reveal it.”
—Maria Jeritza (1887–1982)