Manon

Vienna State Opera

June 19, 2010, 1:00 pm

Composer: Jules Massenet
Conductor: Bertrand de Billy

Cast: Diana Damrau (Manon);
Ramon Vargas (Les Chevalier des Grieux);
Markus Eiche(Lescaut);
Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Le Comte des Grieux);
Alexander Kaimbacher (Guillot Morfontaine);
Clemens Unterreiner (Monsier de Bretigny)

Jules Massenet wrote a number of truly beautiful operas, but this is the one that put him on the map. Along with Puccini's Manon Lescaut, it's one of two operatic versions of the same story. Both dramas have long been part of opera's standard rep, and while it's hard to outshine Puccini when it comes to tragic romance, Massenet may just have done it.

Learn more on the NPR World of Opera website »