Programm booklet »Manon«

JULES MASSENET

MANON

CONTENTS

P.

4

SYNOPSIS P.

6

THE DETAILS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP ANDREI ŞERBAN & PETER PABST IN AN INTERVIEW P.

12

DES GRIEUX MEETS MANON LESCAUT ABBÉ PRÉVOST P.

18

JULES MASSENET – NOTES ON HIS BIOGRAPHY MARTHA HANDLOS

P.

20

BETWEEN MYTH AND REALITY ANDREAS LÁNG P.

24

MANON – A CRAVING FOR LIFE MARIA PUBLIG P.

30

THE WORK OF A BRILLIANT, CREATIVE MIND ANDREAS LÁNG P.

34

IMPRINT

JULES MASSENET

MANON OPÉRA COMIQUE in five acts Text HENRI MEILHAC & PHILIPPE GILLE after ABBÉ PRÉVOST

ORCHESTRA

STAGE MUSIC

2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo) 2 oboes (2nd doubling cor anglais) 2 clarinets / 2 bassoons 2 cornets / 2 horns 2 trumpets / 3 trombones timpani / percussion / harp violin I / violin II / viola cello / double bass clarinet / bassoon string quintet / organ bell in E-flat

AUTOGRAPH Library of the Paris Opera WORLD PREMIÈRE 19 JAN 1884 Opéra Comique, Paris PREMIÈRE AT THE HOUSE ON THE RING 19 NOV 1890 Vienna Court Opera DURATION

3 H 15 MIN

INCL. 1 INTERMISSION

MANON

SYNOPSIS The wealthy Guillot de Morfontaine, the farmer-general Brétigny and their female companions Poussette, Javotte und Rosette are enjoying themselves in a tavern at a staging post in Amiens. The approach of a group of travellers is announced, and curious townsfolk gather to watch them, amongst them Sergeant Lescaut, who has come to meet his cousin Manon to take her to a convent. The young Manon is indeed amongst the new arrivals, enchanting all the bystanders – including Guillot – with her beauty. The latter offers her a life of luxury if she will become his mistress. Though Manon rejects his advances, she feels irresistibly attracted by the prospect of wealth. Chevalier Des Grieux also arrives on the scene. Hardly has the young noblemen set eyes on the young girl than he, too, falls in love with her completely. Manon is also attracted to him, and agrees to flee to Paris with him. However, the time which the young lovers spend with one another is all too short, as Manon finally gives in to the advances of the wealthy Brétigny. Chevalier Des Grieux is forcefully abducted at the instigation of his father, the old Count Des Grieux, who wishes to put his son back on the straight and narrow.

Some time later, Manon chances to hear that the young Des Grieux is about to take holy orders. She immediately goes to visit him at the monastery of Saint-Sulpice. It only takes a few tender words from Manon for Des Grieux to succumb to her charms: once again the couple flee together. Since Manon is still unwilling to do without her luxury, Des Grieux endeavours to improve his financial circumstances by gambling at the sleazy Hôtel de Transylvanie. Guillot sees him there and drums up a scandal, accusing Des Grieux of cheating. He fetches the police, and both Manon and Des Grieux are arrested. Though Count Des Grieux is able to secure the release of his son, Manon is to be deported to America. However, worn down by the exertions of prison life, Manon dies in Des Grieuxʼs arms on the way to the harbour.

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KS ANNA NETREBKO as MANON Previous pages: SCENE

5

ANDREAS LÁNG IN AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ANDREI ŞERBAN & STAGE A N D COST UME DE SIGN ER PET ER PA B ST

THE

DETAILS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP al

Massenet was not the only one to set Prévost’s Manon novel.

Besides his version, we find Puccini’s in particular in the modern opera repertoire. That’s an Italian version and a French one.

Andrei, you prefer Massenet’s? as Well, the fact is that French works generally have more irony, more humour than Italian operas. Whether it’s Gounod, Bizet or Massenet, besides the clearly serious scenes there are also always scenes devoted to pure entertainment. Everything isn’t all passionately tragic. In addition, French operas are more sophisticated. It’s true, I prefer Massenet’s Manon to Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. The French approach, as you describe it, is generally more delicate, finer and more sensitive. Compared with Massenet I think Puccini is almost like a tank, so powerful and robust... In addition, Massenet and his librettists stuck much closer with the action to Prévost’s original than Puccini. The story in Manon is as it were more authentic, and I find it more interesting than in Manon Lescaut.

al

Massenet only varies from the original at the end. In Prévost, Manon dies in America. In Massenet, she dies in France, on the way to deportation. pp (laughs): I think there’s a purely practical reason for that. Massenet would have had to add a sixth act to include the America episode as well. No, the whole thing would have simply been too long, and it doesn’t change anything about the opera’s narrative, the actual story. At the end, Manon is sentenced to be deported and dies in misery – it doesn’t matter whether it’s in America or still in France. al Prévost’s novel is a work of the 18th century, a work of the Enlightenment. Massenet’s opera is a product of the 19th century.

How far do we see a difference in time in the treatment of the material? as Massenet and his librettists had to adapt to the conventions of the 19th century in many respects in order to be performed at all. This applies particularly to the treatment of the individual

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THE DETAILS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

characters. In Prévost, they are much more contradictory, not just black or white. In the novel, the young Chevalier Des Grieux becomes a very professional cardsharp who makes a fortune at the expense of others. In Massenet, he’s primarily naïve, virtuous and passionate, he has positively saintly aspects. And Manon in the “original” is also quite a slut, a tough, kleptomaniac whore. In the opera, she seems more positively presented at first glance. In other words, Massenet told the story, but smoothed off a few corners here and there. We stuck closer to Prévost again in the production, deromanticised the characters somewhat, and gave them more realistic features. pp I think it’s boring to show people who are mostly good or mostly bad. Particularly in the latter case, I try to find a corner of the character which gives them a lovable touch for me. I couldn’t in good faith show somebody on stage who’s stuck with a negative bias in advance. And for the audience it’s much more interesting to see multifaceted characters on the stage who have their strong points but also weaknesses. It’s much easier to feel sympathy for such characters than for pure heroes or pure devils… as Exactly. This is why you won’t see heroes or devils in my staging. The characters also balance us in this way in the audience, poised somewhere between the two extremes. al And how do you give the characters – for example, in the present case – multiple layers? as By reading between the lines and paying close attention to the music. And asking yourself the right questions. In the scene in the Hotel Transylvanie,

for example, I’ve always been rather disturbed by the dramatic aspect. Des Grieux and Manon have hardly been arrested by the police, and Des Grieux’s father is on the stop to save his son, like a deus ex machina. How can a grave older man appear so suddenly in the forbidden gambling den? We’ve discussed this question repeatedly with Peter Pabst and the conductor of the new production, Bertrand de Billy.

The explanation we’re offering is that the old Count Des Grieux isn’t quite so noble and innocent, but also has some connections with this demi-monde of cardsharps and crooks, so that he was informed early enough of the arrival of the police. al Prévost’s novel plays in the middle of the 18 th century. You’ve moved the action to the 1930s.

Why? as What’s theatre all about? About telling stories. And as the canon of works that are constantly being performed is pretty stable, we inevitably have to tell the same stories over and over. The most important thing is that the audiences shouldn’t lose interest. So the question is, how do I tell something that’s already well known in the most interesting way possible? There’s no general answer, only current proposals for a solution.

In the present case with Manon, the difficulty is presenting the web of relationships between the characters, the social milieux, the details which help properly understand the opera in a way that we can recognise today.

Let’s assume that we left everything in the original period of the story.

That would mean the people would dress as they did in Mozart’s time.

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A N DR EI ŞER BA N & PET ER PA B ST IN AN INTERVIEW

But in this piece, people of different social levels are constantly meeting – aristocrats, nouveaux riches, crooks, floozies. If you can’t tell the difference between these people from their appearance, for example because you don’t know the subtleties of the fashion at the time, a lot of the nuances of the piece are lost. pp But we’re familiar with the 1930s.

On the one hand from our parents and grandparents, and on the other hand from the wealth of films and photos of the period. This makes it possible for the audience to place the characters in the right atmosphere. And as Manon constantly involves the demi-monde and underworld, we show the story in the gangster milieu that was typical then. al And why not in the present day? pp To be really honest, quite simply because I don’t have much time for jeans on the stage. al And how were the individual episodes in the action transferred to the 1930s without hurting the story? pp We didn’t make anything seem foreign or fragmented, we tried to find the equivalent in the new period. What was important was to find the significance of a location that’s the same in every period. In the original period, the opera starts at a coaching inn, a place of mobility which is about people passing through, travellers. In our production the opera starts at a railway station, another setting where people come and go. There’s no change here in the content of the action. The same goes for the Cours la Reine scene – in connection with this nocturnal festival atmosphere you quickly think of the Pigalle, the Rue Saint Denis of the 1930s, where

all sorts of people came together – whores, butchers selling their product at their stands, the upper classes who wanted to drink a last beer in the early hours. And there was no problem with changing the period for the Hotel Transylvanie, this is the image of a gambling den. In many settings this looks like the Monte-Carlo Casino. But this is wrong, what should be shown in a seamy setting where gambling is illegal, and the police could raid it at any time. al Andrei, during your Werther production at the Vienna State Opera you talked about the similarity of this opera and the works of Chekhov. Does this similarity with Chekhov also apply to Manon? as Actually, no. We’re dealing with the same composer, but in terms of their structure they’re very different pieces.

Sometimes, Manon is like a gangster film, sometimes it’s like an operetta, then again, it’s a melodrama with real emotions, and then it’s a comedy again.

If I had to make a comparison, I’d see this opera as closer to Bertolt Brecht than to Chekhov. al The complete title of the Prévost novel is La véritable histoire du chevalier Des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut. Massenet’s opera is simply called Manon. Is the character Des Grieux less central in the opera than in the novel? pp It depends on which aspect of the opera you want to focus on. It tells the story of a very specific career from its start to its end, that is, the story of Manon. Then she is naturally at the focus by herself. However, it is also about a romantic relationship, and then there are naturally two people on

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THE DETAILS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

an equal basis at the focus. In addition, the influence of Des Grieux on Manon should not be underestimated, even if she can do with him what she wants.

Her life would certainly be different without him, and the career mentioned above would probably be significantly shorter. al Does Massenet actually sympathise with Manon, is he on her side as Verdi is on Violetta’s? as That’s a difficult question, given that we don’t know whose side someone actually is on. In any case, Massenet emphasised the mysterious aspect of this woman, even more than Prévost did. You can see this in the way Massenet ends the piece – the last sentence is given to Manon – the dying Manon, in fact. And this is, “This is the story of Manon Lescaut.” What dying woman says something like this about herself with her final breath? Massenet wanted to emphasis the unusual nature of this person with the deliberately theatrical and artificial ending. I think this is a message from the composer. “Let us not try to discover who Manon is at all cost, as we cannot in any event completely make out such a mysterious character.” al A major challenge for every director and set designer are the operas where – as here, in Manon – there is a constant interchange between scenes with chorus and scenes with only a few characters...

pp That really is a challenge with Manon. This constant changing from chorus scenes to intimate plays with two or three people and back again is like the breathing of the piece. This meant we had to find a solution which allows to change in virtually a fraction of a second from the full opera stage to bring smaller sections to the foreground, like a zoom shot. Projections gave us a possible way to implement this constant change in visual terms.

We aren’t simply projecting onto white canvas; we’re shining light into a dark environment. In other words, every part of the stage we don’t need stays dark, and the few metres which are relevant as a closely confined space are visible as a vibrant, bright, lively location. Conversely, I can use large projections to open up the stage again immediately for a large scene. In addition, in order to avoid too much unnecessary action distracting from the music and the important aspects of many scenes, we’ve populated some scenes with wooden figures which look very real at first glance – an attempt to bring life to the story without having too many live persons – extras – on stage. To some extent, we’ve made some of the live individuals into stage dressing, so that we don’t divert the audience’s attention from the many interpersonal details between the main characters. Because Massenet was ultimately concerned with these details.

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Following pages:

SCENE

ABBÉ PRÉVOST

DES GRIEUX MEETS MANON LESCAUT I was seventeen years old and was completing my studies in Amiens, where my parents, who were one of the first families of P***, had sent me. I led such a studious and well-organised life that my teachers singled me out as a model of exemplary comportment. Not that I made any particular effort to deserve such praise, but I possessed a naturally gentle and calm disposition and a particular inclination for study, so that my natural aversion to vice was considered a virtue. My background, my success in my studies, and certain external qualities brought me the acquaintance and respect of all the town’s residents of standing.

I passed the public examination with such general commendation that the Bishop, who was in attendance, suggested that I should enter the church, where, he said, I would gain greater distinction than in the Order of Malta, for which my parents had destined me.

I had already been awarded the Maltese cross under the name of Chevalier des Grieux. When the holidays arrived, I

was preparing to return to my father, who had promised to send me soon to the knight academy.

When I left Amiens, my only regret was that I was leaving behind a friend to whom I had always been most tenderly attached. He was a few years older than I, and we had been brought up together. However, as his family was not very wealthy, the only option open to him was to take holy orders; he was to stay in Amiens to pursue the studies necessary for that calling. He had an infinite number of good qualities, the best of which you will learn in the course of my story, in which his devotion and his nobility surpass all others.

If I had followed his advice then, I would have remained wise and happy forever. And even in the depths to which my passions have plunged me, I would still have salvaged something from the shipwreck of my fortune and my reputation if only I had learned a lesson from his reproaches. But he has reaped only the pain of realising that all his efforts were in vain, and sometimes even re-

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DES GRIEUX MEETS MANON LESCAUT

paid with disdain from an ungrateful wretch who took offence at them or even considered them intrusive.

I had set the day for my departure from Amiens. Alas! If only I had set it for a day earlier! I would then have returned to my father with my innocence intact. It was the day before my scheduled departure from the city, and I was strolling through the streets with my friend, whose name was Tiberge, when we saw the mail coach coming from Arras. We followed it to the inn where these coaches stop. Our only motive in doing so was curiosity. Several women alighted and then left the area. But one, a very young lady, remained alone in the courtyard while a man of advanced years, who seemed to be responsible for her, was busy bringing out her luggage.

She seemed so charming to me that I, who had never thought of the difference between the sexes nor paid any attention to women – I, whose prudence and reserve were admired by all, was suddenly impassioned to the point of madness. I had the flaw of being extremely shy and easily flustered, but at that moment I was not at all aware of my weakness and walked straight over to the mistress of my heart.

Although she was younger than I, she accepted my civilities without any noticeable embarrassment. I asked her why she had come to Amiens, and whether she had any acquaintances here. She answered me ingenuously that her parents had sent her here to enter a convent. Love had already so enlightened me since taking a hold of me that I felt this proposition to be a fatal blow to my desires. I spoke to her in a way that made her understand my feelings, for she was much more experienced than I. She was being sent to the convent pre-

cisely to repress the penchant for pleasure that had already been evident in her and was to bring about her misfortune and my own. I argued against her parents’ cruel intention with all the reasons which my growing love and my scholastic eloquence could suggest.

She responded with neither austerity nor hostility. After a moment‘s silence she told me that she knew only too well how unhappy she would be, but that this was evidently the will of Heaven and left her no opportunity to avoid this fate. The sweetness in her eyes, the charm of her sad face as she made this pronouncement, and perhaps also the evil star bound to drag me to my ruin, caused me to respond without a moment’s hesitation. I assured her that if she would trust a little in my honour and in the infinite affection which she had already inspired in me, I would risk my life to free her from the tyranny of her parents and make her happy.

Later, when I reflected on it, I was often amazed at how I was able to express myself so boldly and effortlessly.

But love would never have been made a godhead if it did not sometimes work miracles. I added a thousand words of entreaty. My beautiful stranger knew well that one cannot be deceitful at my age. She confessed to me that if I saw a way of freeing her, she would consider herself indebted to me for something more precious than her life. I repeated to her that I was ready to undertake anything. But as I did not have enough experience to come up on the spot with a concrete way to help her, I left it at this vague assurance, which could help neither her nor me very much.

Her aged Argus had meanwhile joined us, and all my hopes would have been dashed had she not had the wits to off-

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DES GRIEUX MEETS MANON LESCAUT

set the lack of my own. To my astonishment, when her guide arrived, she addressed me as cousin, and told me, without the least appearance of embarrassment, that she was very happy to have met me here in Amiens. Accordingly, she intended to postpone her entry into the convent until the next day in order to enjoy the pleasure of supper with me. I understood very well the meaning of this ruse and proposed that she should spend the night at an inn, the owner of which had settled in Amiens after serving for many years as coachman to my father, and who was devoted to me in every way.

I led her there myself, at which her old companion seemed to grumble a little, and my friend Tiberge, who understood nothing of this process, followed without saying a word. He had not heard our conversation, for he was walking up and down in the courtyard while I was whispering words of love to my beautiful mistress. Doubting his discretion, I got rid of him by asking him to run an errand for me. Thus, when I arrived at the inn, I had the pleasure of entertaining the queen of my heart alone.

I soon realised that I was less of a child than I believed myself to be.

My heart opened to a thousand sensations of pleasure of which I previously had not the slightest inkling. A

sweet glow ran through all my veins.

I was in a state of ecstasy which sometimes deprived me of the use of speech and which I could only express in my glances. Made­moiselle Manon Lescaut, for that was her name, as she told me, seemed very gratified by the effect of her charms. I believed from her reactions that she was no less moved than I. She confessed that she found me lovable and would be delighted to owe her freedom to me. She wanted to know who I was, and this knowledge further increased her affection, for she was of humble birth and was flattered to have won the affections of a lover such as myself. We talked about the possibilities of belonging to each other.

After considering many options, we could find no other than to flee. We would have to escape the vigilance of her companion, who though merely a servant was not a fool. We agreed that I should secure a carriage during the night and return at daybreak, before anyone was awake at the inn. Then we would leave quietly and go straight to Paris to be married there. I had about fifty crowns, the fruit of my little savings; she had about twice that. Inexperienced children that we were, we imag­ ined that this sum would never run out, and we were equally confident of the success of our other plans.

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Following pages: KS JUAN DIEGO FLÓREZ

as DES GRIEUX PATRICIA PETIBON as MANON

J ULES M ASSENET / MANON

“WHAT I HAVE TO SAY IN MUSIC, I MUST SAY QUICKLY, BRIEFLY AND SUCCINCTLY; MY COMMUNICATIONS ARE TERSE AND EDGY; IF I WERE TO ADOPT A DIFFERENT WAY OF EXPRESSING MY THOUGHTS I WOULD NO LONGER BE MYSELF...”

MARTHA HANDLOS

JULES

MASSENET – NOTES ON HIS BIOGRAPHY As a young, aspiring musician, Mas­ senet played and sang his way into the hearts of Parisian society – especially the ladies – with salon songs and romances. Luck and success remained true to him throughout his life: a much-acclaimed opera composer, professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire (and thus an influential teacher of the French generation of composers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), member of the Institut de France and the Académie des Beaux Arts, and Grand Officier of the Legion of Honour – in other words awarded all artistic and social honours, a picture-book career comparable to that of Giacomo Puccini or Richard Strauss.

Born on 12 May 1842 in Montand near St-Etienne (Loire), Jules EmileFrédéric Massenet received his first music lessons from his mother. She was a talented pianist and encouraged his interests, so that he was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire at the age of eleven. He first studied singing and piano; a particularly gifted student, he soon began performing in concerts.

Studies in harmony, organ and composition with Ambroise Thomas followed, crowned in 1863 by the award

of the Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata David Rizzio, which enabled the young composer to spend three years in Italy. By then, he had gained practical orchestral and stage experience as a triangle player in the Orchestre de Gymnase and as a timpanist at the Théâtre Lyrique.

There he met Franz Liszt, which possibly also explains the influence of the New German School on his music, and through him Constance de Sainte-Marie, who later became his wife. Orchestral works written during these years attracted the attention of professional circles: a new symphonist seemed to be emerging. Massenet however was fascinated by theatre.

As early as 1867, one year after his return from the Eternal City, he made his début as an opera composer in Paris with the comic opera La Grand’ Tante.

This laid the foundation for his success, success that was to grow from work to work. Don César de Bazan (1872), the oratorio Marie Magdeleine (1873, reworked as an opera in 1903) and Le roi de Lahore (1877) had already cemented his reputation to such an extent that in 1878, at the age of 36(!), he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire.

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JULES MASSENET – NOTES ON HIS BIOGRAPHY

Bruneau, Charpentier, Koechlin, Enescu and many others were among his students, but his influence extended beyond the circle of his students, for example to the young Debussy and Puccini. Hérodiade – a setting of the Salome story – premièred in Brussels in 1881 and brought Massenet international recognition and fame. The first high point in his career was the première of Manon on 19 January 1884 at the Opéra Comique, with audiences hailing both the work and the composer. Before long, Manon had conquered the stages of Europe, and in 1895 it was presented in the New World, in New York.

With Manon, his seventh work for the stage, Jules Massenet had undoubtedly become the most popular and most celebrated opera composer in France, and had thus achieved a position that was scarcely challenged in the following twenty years. Occasional attacks from professional critics – lack of depth, sentimentality, vain sensationalism, but also affinities with Wagner’s musical language – could never seriously call this position into question. Premières of

Massenet’s operas remained central to Parisian music and social life during the Belle Époque.

Massenet wrote a total of 25 operas, the most famous of which are Le Cid (premièred in Paris in 1885; Massenet’s first work to be heard in Vienna, in 1887), Werther (composed in 1886, premièred in Vienna in 1892), Thaïs (1894, Paris), Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (1902, MonteCarlo) and Don Quichotte (1910, MonteCarlo; written for Chaliapin).

The portrayal of women, their souls and their passions is a central theme in Massenet’s works. Fourteen of his operas have women’s names as titles, earning him the nickname “Musicien de la Femme”; throughout his life he was an ardent admirer of elegant women. Jules Massenet remained creatively active well into old age. His last three operas were premièred posthumously. When he died in Paris on 13 August 1912, the Opéra Comique was preparing for the imminent anniversary of the 800th performance of Manon...

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ANDREAS LÁNG

BETWEEN MYTH AND REALITY THE CREATION OF JULES MASSENET’S MANON Using an autobiographical piece as a source for research can be a problem – particularly if it’s by an artist. There is the obvious danger that they will use their recollections – consciously or unconsciously – for additional PR for their work or to bolster personal fame.

A familiar example of this is Richard Wagner. But Jules Massenet, the major French opera composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, provided us in Mes Souvenirs with an easily readable, chatty look at his life and work which is definitely highly embroidered and often probably lapses into anecdote.

However, if we are aware of this and ready to read between the lines, Massenet’s autobiography offers much interesting and usable material, particularly with regard to the origins of his operas.

For example, he describes in considerable detail the development of his seventh and most successful to date opera, Manon. According to this, Léon Carvalho, the feared director of the Paris Opéra Comique, commissioned him to compose a three-act work with the title Phoebé. But as Massenet him-

self tells it, he was gripped in connection with the piece by the fear of every creative person of suddenly hitting a creative crisis.

Although the libretto was by no lesser person than Henri Meilhac – co-author of the libretto for Carmen and many Offenbach operettas – Massenet was not feeling musically inspired.

The more he looked at the material, the more convinced he was that he would fail. A perfectionist, as his contemporaries portrayed him, he was not willing to accept this situation for long, and became more and more annoyed as the days passed, until he admitted his current artistic impotence, rushed directly to Meilhac’s home and confessed his musical capitulation.

So far, so credible. The account in the autobiography of the subsequent conversation with Meilhac should, however, essentially be relegated to the stuff of legend. Massenet claimed he met the librettist in his impressive library, and accidentally happened on Abbé Prévost’s novel Manon Lescaut there. He exclaimed “Manon!”, startling the librettist with the subse-

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quent illumination that this was the material Massenet wanted to set.

He claimed that the decision to call the opera Manon instead of the full title Manon Lescaut was made at the same moment, as a sudden inspiration. As if this was not enough, Massenet also presents Meilhac’s skills in a positively supernatural light. He claimed that Meilhac had invited him to dinner the very next night, and playfully passed the first two completed acts of the Manon libretto to him under his napkin. The other three acts arrived a few days later.

The fact that none of this can have happened in this way is clear if we read the chapter on Werther. There we find again a similarly miraculous sudden inspiration, which seems to prompt Massenet to compose. In this case, however, there are fortunately other and more credible contemporary sources which clearly refute the lightning inspiration in Massenet’s version.

But back to Manon. In the episode described above, Massenet uses two twists which are frequently and gladly used in connection with artistic creations. The first is the emphasis on destiny. At the moment of greatest despair – Massenet is not able to set the three-acter Phoebé – the work which is actually to be created appears in the composer’s mind out of a clear blue sky, completely unplanned. In the librettist’s library, Massenet’s wandering gaze accidentally falls on the right book’s spine, labelled Manon Lescaut, for it to fan the dormant fires of inspiration to an instant blaze...

Second, it is naturally immediately obvious to the composer that this inspiration can only flourish if the opera’s right title accompanies the work’s creation from the start as its

muse. In this case, shortening Manon Lescaut to Manon. But how did this Manon, this major French opera from the second half of the 19th century, really come about? While it is not possible to reconstruct the process of creation with complete certainty, there are several facts to help us which are easily overlooked at first glance. Prévost’s 18th century novel was very popular from the start. And Massenet was also not the first or last to set it. Before him, there were Michael William Balfe (The Maid of Artois, London 1836), Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (Manon Lescaut, Paris 1856), Richard Kleinmichel (Schloss de LʼOrme, Hamburg 1883) and Jacques-François-Fromental Halévy and Mathias Strebinger, each of whom wrote a Manon Lescaut ballet.

Massenet will have known at least Auber’s version, as Auber as the “inventor” of grand opéra was a model for several generations of composers and also director for years of the famous Paris Conservatory, who Massenet as a former student had some contact with.

Simply to make an obvious distinction with his own opera, which was intended to première in the same city (Paris) as Auber’s, it was naturally advisable to choose a different title. First, it had to be clear to the public that this was a new work, and second, it should still be clear that it was about the popular Manon story. (Conversely, it was for the same reasons that Puccini had given his version premièred in 1893 the full title Manon Lescaut, to distinguish it clearly from the successful Massenet version.)

In addition, at the time a simple woman’s forename had greater public impact than any other form of title. For example, Verdi’s La traviata was called

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Violetta for years at the Vienna Court Opera, rather than by its original title, which was used later. Massenet was skilled at marketing his works, so that the choice of title very probably had little to do with inspiration and a great deal to do with his sales strategy. The decision to write a Manon opera itself was likely to be less a sudden inspiration than the result of extended discussion with Meilhac, the theatre professional. As noted, the Manon story was promising, and this is what Massenet was looking for.

Massenet’s opera Le roi de Lahore, premièred in 1877, was the first to really attract attention outside France.

Particularly in Italy, the piece was performed at several houses (duly translated), each time under the supervision of the composer, who did not want to leave anything to chance. In Paris, however, the piece was abandoned overnight, and Massenet’s newly composed Hérodiade was rejected from the start by the director of the Opéra Comique, so that the première had to be in Brussels. This made the commission for the Opéra all the more important.

Massenet would not and could not run the risk of a failure in his hometown.

Whether or not he actually hit a creative block with Phoebé, both Massenet and Meilhac were well aware that a title with public resonance was a significant factor in success, and Manon was definitely a better bet than Phoebé in this respect.

Now, it was a question of convincing

director Carvalho, who had commissioned Phoebé, to accept Manon instead.

As Meilhac was the librettist for both, and Carvalho trusted him, no great skill was probably needed to persuade him, quite apart from the fact that Carvalho was also aware of the impact of the Manon story.

Although the libretto was rapidly finished, according to Massenet, the composer took his time with the actual composition. The choice of Manon was made in 1881 at the latest, but the world première itself was not until 1884. Massenet repeatedly had Meilhac transpose scenes and insert new passages, and the composer even consulted Philippe Gille on dramatic issues, when he and his librettist disagreed over various points.

Massenet wanted to create a highly successful operatic masterpiece, rather than a passing success, and no detail was too small.

Understandably, he was unwilling to rush any decision on casting and ruled out numerous singers for the title role until he found the necessary star in Marie Heilbronn. The overall result finally justified him in every respect. The public flocked to the performances in all the great opera houses of Europe. Within a few months, Jules Massenet advanced from being fairly well known to being one of the leading opera composers of his day. He lived to see the 750th performance in Paris alone. And in Vienna, the success opened the way to another world première in Vienna – Werther.

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KS ROBERTO ALAGNA

as DES GRIEUX

MARIA PUBLIG

MANON – A CRAVING FOR LIFE Jules Massenet was already famous when he started working on his new opera Manon in 1881. Unlike Puccini and his Manon Lescaut, which premièred in 1893, Massenet and his librettist Meilhac stayed with the story by the Abbé Prévost. This was no contemporary novel, but a cult piece which appeared in 1731 and had fascinated generations of readers. The mood swings between duty and inclination, asceticism and licentiousness had been a source of fascination and moralisation for over a century.

At the start of the 18th century, the idea that a young woman (Manon is just 16 in Prévost’s novel) saw her life stretching before her, didn’t want to wait to be married off by her family, and abandoned herself to the feelings of the moment was utterly reprehensible. Many were disturbed by the fact that she added the pursuit of wealth and luxury to her actions, and that Manon linked this careless, free lifestyle with physical passion, which was unknown to most married women at the time.

GLAMOROUS WORLD Today, we are relatively at ease with it all, although many now complain about oversexualisation. The spirit of the times creates models, cult figures, highly egocentric people. In their striving for beauty, success and impact, many girls are drawn by advertising and the equivalent media to cosmetics, fashion and a lifestyle well beyond their actual financial resources, so that Manon’s earlier longings are very understandable, from our current point of view. The difference is that she could possibly afford this today by working, but in those days needed a wealthy husband – and this is exactly what the young Manon lacked.

In her hunger for the glamorous world, Manon with her longing for life did not stop at taking significantly older lovers, who would at least satisfy her financial desires. After all, she had something to offer them. Manon was unconcerned about the moral price. There are parallels again for the present day. Not

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M A N ON – A C R AV I N G F OR L I F E

too long ago (after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989), there were hordes of teenage girls waiting on the streets for their financial fortune from the West, for example at the Austrian border with Hungary and Czechoslovakia. But it wasn’t only money they were looking for. They were also revolting against the taboo against sexuality in the former communist countries. Officially, there was no prostitution then, and now it was suddenly visible. They were defying all ideological restraints and opposing taboos, such as hidden prostitution and the spectre of capitalism. These young women were also harbingers of a new age. An age when you can buy just about anything with money.

A question which Abbé Prévost had earlier pursued in his novel and in his own lifetime. He was concerned with the relationship between morality and liberalism. Can we condemn something that is part of human existence?

As a Knight Hospitaller Prévost decided at early age to study theology. And – as described in Manon – his life took a different turn. He fell passionately in love, against his father’s wishes, and fled to England and Holland – a parallel with Des Grieux’s flight. However, Prévost became embroiled in many more amorous adventures, and even lost his job as tutor to the Lord Mayor of London’s son. After all, he had seduced his sister.

Prévost also spent enormous sums on his liaisons. The name of one recorded femme fatale was Hélène Eckhardt.

However, an extensive change of life can also be strenuous. Prévost accordingly decided to return to the ordered world of the church, which he intended to devote himself to through asceticism – as Franz Liszt did after him. He wrote his famous novel before this. It portrays

the time of the early Enlightenment in the Histoire du Chevalier Des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut. The great issue of the time was the philosophical and political debate over the separation of church and state.

A purely rational treatment of this issue was the task of academics and philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, Voltaire etc.

An emotional treatment was the job of writers and other artists. As Prévost made the action very emotional and almost moving, the figure of the seductress Manon endured well into the Romantic period. Jean-François Auber composed the opera Manon, Jacques Halévy wrote a ballet with the same name, to mention just two.

LIBERTY, PASSION, MORALITY AND ASCETICISM Passion and depravity were also popular subjects of the Romantic period.

The dark side of the human soul, combined with invisible powers, dominated both Charles Gounod’s Faust (1859) and Georges Bizet’s opéra comique Carmen (1872/75) , whose protagonist’s delight in life and drama arouses unrestrained passion in the previously dutiful and colourless sergeant Don José. Manon is a kindred spirit. And it is perhaps no coincidence that Henri Meilhac is the librettist in both.

Like Prévost’s Enlightenment story Manon, Mozart’s Don Giovanni also enjoyed a renaissance, becoming the most performed Mozart opera in the Romantic period. Here again, there is the struggle between liberty, passion, morality and asceticism. But at the end of the 19th century, Auber’s Manon, once so popu-

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MARIA PUBLIG

lar, was suddenly out of fashion. It was accordingly time for Massenet (meanwhile a famous composer) to tackle the subject.

Jules Massenet came from a good middle-class family. His father had been an officer on the staff of Napoleon I, his mother mourned Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Encouraged from his childhood, Massenet was enrolled in 1861 in Ambroise Thomas’s composition class at the Paris Conservatory.

Shortly after this. he won the coveted Prix de Rome and the three-year stay in Italy that went with it. He lived at the Villa Medici and made numerous excursions. In this way he also got to know Franz Liszt, who at the time was living in the Madonna del Rosario monastery Although Jules Massenet came from a financially solid home, he had to pay for his studies himself. In Paris he was a timpanist at the Opéra, and he also played the piano in cafés and earned money as a piano teacher. Subsequently, Massenet himself nevertheless regarded this exhausting moonlighting as enriching his life and consolidating his musical foundations.

In Rome, however, Jules Massenet was concerned solely to develop his compositional technique. Franz Liszt felt differently, and recommended him instead to the young and talented musician Louise-Constance (Ninon) de Gressy. Massenet remembered: “the day after, a day that deserves to be noted, I was on the three-hundred step staircase of the Ara Coeli church when I met two ladies whose elegant appearance showed that they were foreigners. The younger one completely enchanted my eyes. A few days after this encounter I was visiting Liszt, who was preparing for ordination, and among the famous

master’s visitors I recognised the two ladies from Ara Coeli.

I soon learned that the younger one had come to Rome with her family as a tourist, and that people had recommended Liszt as a source for a musician who could continue to direct her musical studies. Although she was away from Paris, she was unwilling to interrupt these. Liszt immediately recommended me to her. I had a scholarship from the Académie de France and had to work here, and so I did not wish to waste my time on giving lessons. However, this girl radiated a charm which overcame even my resistance.” Once again, resolve gave way to passion.

Massenet married Louise-Constance (Ninon) de Gressy in Avon on 8 October 1866.

STRIVING FOR MORAL EQUITY In the following years, Jules Massenet concentrated on composing oratorios.

His most important and successful were Marie-Magdaleine (1871/72), followed

by Eve (1874) and La Vierge (1877/78).

A striking feature is the evolution of heroines, not only in his works, who would continue to be title figures up to the turn of the century – Manon, Thaïs, Esclarmonde, Sapho, Térèsa or – rather different – Cherubin (a pants role). The theme was self-discovery and observation of female characters, regardless of whether this – as in Manon – was satisfying a rakish joy in life, or – as later in Thaïs (1894/98) – transforming the ancient courtesan, who is ultimately filled with Christian virtues.

Jules Massenet’s own erotic desires (he cheerfully presents himself as a womaniser in his autobiography)

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M A N ON – A C R AV I N G F OR L I F E

are more likely to have been satisfied through his opera characters than in real life. He was not alone. Passion, growing emancipation and social themes with a Christian flavour were all issues facing artists and the public generally. Des Grieux’s despair of losing self-control in Manon’s presence, repeatedly roused the wish in him to enter an orderly monastic life. The volcanic power of passion frightened him, even though he longed for it – an inner conflict which Abbé Prévost also experienced in his day, along with many of his male contemporaries.

In the struggle for moral equity, the figure of Manon seems to be one of the pioneers after the Enlightenment. Her hedonistic abandonment to passion and luxury makes her the elder sister of Lulu. A sensual image of women as men desire them – and at the same time fear them. For example, the author and later supporter of the emancipation of women Simone de Beauvoir tried in The Second Sex (1949) to capture the image of women for many men, based on a myth. The myth “is both Eve and the Virgin Mary. She is an idol, a servant, source of life, power of darkness; she is the elementary silence of truth, she is artifice, gossip, and lies; she is the medicine woman and witch; she is man’s prey; she is his downfall, she is everything he is not and wants to have, his negation and his raison d’être.”

stage was a particularly suitable platform for social debate. The sufferings of the male were presented there, the exaggerated demands that many could no longer could or wanted to meet. Like Don José in Carmen, who needed the strict rules of police and military service to find his bearings in life, Des Grieux needed the strict monastic rules to master his life – men who society demanded should bear responsibility, but did not want to, either for themselves or for a female partner.

Dealing with fulfilled sensuality and a free life according to new rules was too much of a challenge for the men of the 19th century. Even theatrical characters such as Des Grieux and Don José are also helpless in the face of the categories of self-indulgence and intemperance. They have nothing to oppose the new ways, while women see part of their zest for life in them. The overwhelmed male is the one who can hardly cope with the individualisation of his partner. The scope of restraint only becomes apparent when Manon and Carmen set limits. But nothing is the same as it was. Their own life – without settled order – falls apart. The fear that in times of revolutionary upheaval (1848, the turn in 1860 from absolute to constitutional monarchies) patriarchal rules could also be overthrown had to be dealt with in advance – on the stage, even with death.

THE OVERWHELMED MALE

SOCIAL HYPOCRISY

The controversial theologian and former priest Adolf Holl also makes clear the desire of modern man for a “total woman” – an image, however, shaped by tradition. In Jules Massenet’s day the

And both Prévost and Massenet are again caught up in their own experiences. Is Manon worthy of admiration in her search for freedom and drive for individualisation, or does morality triumph?

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M A N ON – A C R AV I N G F OR L I F E

It is a punitive morality, as what previously represented a feeling for life and acknowledgement for Manon will humiliate her and subject her to contempt in future, when she is forced into prostitution in America. Because what free spirits enjoy is mostly very different when the tables are turned. The only incentive even today is still money. “If the girl’s young, she tells herself, if I do it, I’d want to at least get something for it.

Now, she says, I’ll do it for two or three years. She thinks she’ll have enough money then. But the wishes keep growing. Now, she has a fur coat and stuff like that, now, she wants a new flat, a new car, a new house, and so on. It’s like that for all the girls. The easier you make money, the easier you spend it”, is how an older, experienced whore explains it in Roland Girtler’s book (1985 – The red-light district in Vienna).

It’s hardly nymphomaniac tendencies, as clients like to believe, and as the girls pretend for them. A young Viennese prostitute says, “There’s nothing enjoyable at all about what I do, I don’t have the slightest attachment to the job.

I don’t like it, I don’t enjoy it. For me, it’s the only way to make money quickly.”

And although men at all levels of society frequent prostitutes, there is an evident shift in one particular preference. “The S&M customers all come from the upper classes, they’re the ones that always oppress the others, mostly men who have a whole lot of people under them. No labourers have ever come to us.”

Another prostitute noted new trends as well. “I’m worried that soon only young people will be coming, between 20 and 30. That worries me. 20-yearolds! Earlier it was only old men who’ve already done it all. Today, it’s handsome young lads as well. Really, it can’t be normal for them to want something like that, blood running down from the cuts of a whip.”

The range of broken taboos was different in Massenet’s time, but the moral barriers were still taking a battering. Regardless of the intentions of characters like Manon – joy in life or consumerist urges – the patriarchy that passes for society is still maintaining its hypocrisy, right to the present day.

28

KS JONAS KAUFMANN

as DES GRIEUX

ANDREAS LÁNG

THE WORK OF A BRILLIANT, CREATIVE MIND MASSENET’S MANON IN VIENNA The conductor and long-time director of the Vienna Court Opera at the end of the 19th century, Wilhelm Jahn, deserves credit for having added three important works by Jules Massenet to the repertoire of the house on the Ring in very short order: Le Cid on 22 November 1887 (two years after the Paris première), Manon on 19 November 1890 (six years after the Paris première) and Werther, which saw its world première here on 16 February 1892. The fact that director Jahn made two lucky finds, at least in the case of Manon and Werther, is evident from the many performances given in each case. These two works made Massenet a favourite composer of Viennese audiences, although the success of Manon still overshadows that of Werther to this day.

Naturally, as was usual with all foreign language works at the time, Manon

was only available in Germany in a German translation. And a very poor one at that. Unlike Le Cid, for which Max Kalbeck prepared the German text, Manon was translated by a certain Ferdinand Gumbert, who was himself a song composer but was obviously unable or unwilling to apply his experience in this area. For example, he wrote the vowel i on the highest and most taxing notes, much to singers’ dismay. And the German translation was generally very awkward (yet strangely enough, the Vienna State Opera stuck with Gumbert’s version even after the Second World War). This did not, however, affect the audience’s response. Nor was there just a moderately good review by the feared Eduard Hanslick in the Neue Freie Presse; Hanslick admitted that this opera was “the work of a fine, brilliant mind, displaying the full

30

THE WORK OF A BRILLIANT, CREATIVE MIND

range of musical techniques and the most modern secret means of dramatic expression”, yet his overall response was negative.

Hanslick found for example that “this music actually consists only of details” and that Massenet “does everything possible to cripple the melody and rhythm, to make the singing stuttering, the cheerful gloomy, the wine sour.” It should be noted however that Massenet’s Manon was not the only important work in which the “pope of critics” and brilliant stylist went down in the history of the feuilleton as having made a huge error of judgement. The fact is that the work remained in the theatre‘s repertoire until 1910, i.e. for twenty years, and ensured full houses; after a break of only six seasons, it was reinstated in the repertoire, where it remained until the outbreak of the Second World War. As far as the cast of the early years goes, the constant presence of two names is striking. In probably no other opera of this period in Vienna were the main roles played by the same performers for as long as in this case: Marie Renard simply was the Manon, and Ernest van Dyck was the vocal and acting ideal embodiment of the Chevalier Des Grieux. It was not until the 74th performance that the role switched from Dyck to his colleague Franz Naval, with Renard remaining for further performances – and van Dyck also occasionally returned as Des Grieux.

(When you consider how many works never see this many performances and disappear forever much earlier, this faithfulness to roles by the two artists is even more impressive.) But even in the following years, cast changes were rather modest. Particularly noteworthy are Leo Slezak and Alfred Piccaver as the young Des Grieux, as well as Lotte Lehmann, Maria Jeritza, Viorica Ursuleac and Maria Reining as Manon.

In 1939, as mentioned, the performance run of Massenet’s Manon was interrupted.

During the First World War, there were no problems with performing works by (deceased) members of the enemy countries – in 1917 alone, there were 22 performances of Manon (!) at the opera house on the Ring – but between 1939 and 1945, audiences at the Vienna State Opera had to forego this work for political reasons. In 1942, an order came from higher up to include some of the popular French operas in the repertoire – but Manon was not one of these “amnestied” pieces.

The return of democracy was also saw the return of Manon: on 2 May 1949, Adolf Rott presented a new production at the Theater an der Wien, the temporary quarters of the destroyed Vienna State Opera, with sets

by Fritz Judtmann. In this new production Ljuba Welitsch and Anton Dermota shone as Manon and Chevalier Des Grieux. And this time too, a consistent casting policy seemed to be followed: Rudolf Schock was cast alongside Dermota, and the young Sena Jurinac alongside Welitsch – there was no third alternative as long as this production was on stage (and that was the case until 1954).

After the State Opera at the Theater an der Wien, it was the turn of the Vienna Volksoper. On 22 April 1960, Manon (Puccini’s version had been performed here much earlier) was performed for the first time on the Währinger Gürtel. And again, it was Anton Dermota who portrayed the young Des Grieux. “His” Manon was the young Lee Vanora. The production was conducted by Argeo Quadri, the director was Dino Yannopoulos.

The next Vienna première of Manon (20 November 1971) took place again at the house on the Ring – this time finally in the French original. This meant that during rehearsals, the celebrated director and set designer Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, who headed up the production, not only had to oversee the pro-

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THE WORK OF A BRILLIANT, CREATIVE MIND

duction but also had to torment one or two ensemble members for weeks with the correct pronunciation of the text.

The acclaimed result was then on stage for more than a quarter of a century (including in Munich, where the production was transferred in 1985).

In the first few years, the title role was sung by Jeannette Pilou, Anna Moffo and Teresa Zylis-Gara, amongst others, while Des Grieux was performed

by Giacomo Aragall, Georges Liccioni and Juan Oncina. On 8 December 1983, the much-acclaimed new production was performed under Adam Fischer, with Edita Gruberova and Francisco Araiza as the tragic lovers. With a few exceptions, the tenor continued in the role until the next revival (1995), while Manon underwent more extensive changes: in addition to the aforementioned Gruberova, Catherine Malfitano, Patricia Wise and Leontina Vaduva sang the title role. The staying power of the production was finally demonstrated by the aforementioned revival.

The next two years, there were no fewer

than 22 performances. This time, in addition to Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Miriam Gauci and Leontina Vaduva again, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Deon van der Walt and Francisco Araiza were seen as Manon and Des Grieux.

The première of the following i.e. current production (director: Andrei Şerban, stage and constume design: Peter Pabst) with KS Anna Netrebko and KS Roberto Alagna on 3 March 2007 was also the 319th performance of Massenet’s Manon at the Vienna State Opera. The lifespan of this production has also proved to be remarkable. By 2024, no fewer than 63 performances have been staged, with the two main roles (in addition to those already mentioned) regularly being played by famous singers such as KS Diana Damrau, Patricia Petibon, Marlis Petersen, Pretty Yende, KS Jonas Kaufmann, KS Ramón Vargas, KS Juan Diego Flórez, Rolando Villazón, Charles Castronovo and – most recently – Kristina Mkhitaryan and Vittorio Grigolo.

32

PRETTY YENDE

as MANON

IMPRINT JULES MASSENET

MANON SEASON 2024/25 PREMIÈRE OF THE PRODUCTION 3 MARCH 2007 Publisher WIENER STAATSOPER GMBH, Opernring 2, 1010 Wien Director DR. BOGDAN ROŠČIĆ Music Director PHILIPPE JORDAN Administrative Director DR. PETRA BOHUSLAV General Editors SERGIO MORABITO, ANDREAS LÁNG AND OLIVER LÁNG based on the program booklet of the Vienna State Opera for the première of the 2007 production Design & concept EXEX Layout & typesetting MIWA MEUSBURGER Printed by PRINT ALLIANCE HAV PRODUKTIONS GMBH, BAD VÖSLAU TEXT & IMAGE REFERENCES All texts were taken from the Manon programme of the Vienna State Opera, 2007. IMAGE REFERENCES Cover image: Alex Prager, Eclipse, 2021, 121.92 x 102.36 cm, Courtesy Alex Prager Studio. Cover image concept: Martin Conrads, Berlin. Performance photos: Michael Pöhn / Wiener Staatsoper GmbH (p. 2-3, 10-11, 16, 17, 23, 33); Axel Zeininger / Wiener Staatsoper GmbH (p. 5, 29). ENGLISH TRANSLATION Andrew Smith.

Reproduction only with approval of Wiener Staatsoper GmbH / Dramaturgy. Holders of rights who were unavailable regarding retrospect compensation are requested to make contact.

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