Puccini: Manon Lescaut

“Callas may present a rather formidable portrait of a young girl in Act 1, but here the final act is far more than an epilogue to the rest, rather a culmination, with Callas at her very peak. Di Stefano too is in superb form and Serafin’s pacing of the score is masterly.” Gramophone Magazine

“Callas, as always, takes a completely individual approach to this opera...it certainly demands attention...this recording has plenty going for it, not only from Callas but also the sterling (if not exactly subtle) contribution of Di Stefano, and Serafin's idiomatic conducting.” International Record Review, January 2011

“Callas catches the development of Manon's character from naive acquisitiveness to desperation with unfailing insight. Di Stefano makes a worthy Des Grieux, and Serafin is the most reliable of Puccini conductors.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2011 *****

“Albanese...doesn't disappoint either in terms of tessitura or emotion in the turn-to-the-tragic of the final acts.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2010

“Jonel Perlea's 1954 Manon Lescaut really is classic Puccini...was there ever a tenor better at the sob in the voice than Jussi Björling?” BBC Music Magazine, July 2010 *****

“With Bjoerling as Des Grieux giving one of this very finest performances on disc and with Robert Merrill in glorious voice as Lescaut, the Romanian conductor Jonel Perlea conducts one of the most passionate performances of this opera ever recorded.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“With Luciano Pavarotti a powerful Des Grieux, James Levine conducts a comparably big-boned performance of Manon Lescaut, bringing out the red-blooded drama of Puccini's first big success, while not ignoring its warmth and tender poetry in exceptionally full, vivid sound with the voices well in front of the orchestra. In the title-role Freni's performance culminates in an account of the big Act 4 aria, more involving and passionate than any of the others on rival versions, with the voice showing no signs of wear, and with her sudden change of face at the words 'terra di pace' ('a land of peace') bringing a magical lightening of tone.
That aria makes a thrilling climax, when too often this act can seem a letdown. In this as in so much else, Levine conveys the tensions and atmosphere of a stage performance in a way that owes much to his experience at the Metropolitan.
More completely than other versions, it avoids the feeling of a studio performance.
Reactions to Pavarotti as Des Grieux will differ widely. The closeness of balance means that in volume his singing rarely drops below mezzoforte, but there's little harm in having so passionate a portrait of Des Grieux as Pavarotti's.
Needless to say, the hero's big emotional climaxes in each of the first three acts come over at full force. The rest of the cast is strong too, with Dwayne Croft a magnificent Lescaut.
Many collectors will count this a clear first choice among current versions.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Levine conveys the tensions and atmosphere of a stage performance in a way that plainly owes much to his experience at the Metropolitan...it avoids the feeling of a studio performance....[Pavarotti], characteristically, points word meaning with a bright-eyed intensity that compels attention.” Gramophone Magazine, November 1993

“Levine brings out all the red-blooded drama of Puccini's first big success, while not ignoring the warmth and tender poetry...Cecilia Bartoli makes the unnamed singer in the Act II entertainment into far more than a cipher” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ****