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The Sunday Times, October 19, 2008 |
| Hugh Canning |
Manon, Chicago, September/October 2008
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'Manon'
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 Finally, a brief word about another ENO show on
its rounds around the world. David McVicar’s grungy, down-at-heel staging of
Massenet’s Manon may not have endured in St Martin’s Lane, but it has
succeeded on the road with starrier casts. Last summer, it was filmed in
Barcelona with Natalie Dessay and Rolando Villazon, and I caught it,
again with Dessay, but this time with Jonas Kaufmann as her infatuated beau,
at Lyric Opera of Chicago. They make an ideal pair physically — just over
and just under 40, they convince as teenagers in the opening scene — and
vocally they are simply today’s dream cast. The soprano musters all the
reserves of her characteristically French, silvery tone and her glittering
technical armoury in the cavernous but singer-friendly Civic Opera House,
while the tenor draws the listener in with his dreamy pianissimo singing and
thrills with his visceral, passionate top notes. Covent Garden has a Manon
scheduled for Anna Netrebko and Villazon. Let’s hope they book Dessay and
Kaufmann for the revival. |
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