Cool Manon Lescaut at The National Opera

In front of a sold-out Stopera, De Nationale Opera presented its new production of Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini. Directed by Andrea Breth, the musical director is Alexander Joel. The lead role is sung by Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek, who was loudly applauded afterwards.

The bad news

First the bad news. The number of moments when tears sprang to my eyes: zero. A lump in the throat? Again, the score was: zero. Were there at least a few moments when I got goose bumps? Unfortunately, the answer here is also: zero. Even the very tragic death scene at the end failed to move me. The fact that Manon Lescaut and her lover Des Grieux wander desperately through the desert, search in vain for water and Manon dies of exhaustion is taken for granted.

Any chemistry between Eva-Maria Westbroek and Italian tenor Stefano la Colla is missing, despite the scorchingly passionate notes Puccini puts in their mouths. And it can be so moving, witness, for instance, the rendition by soprano Renata Scotto and tenor Placido Domingo, of which even a blurred clip on YouTube irrevocably grabs you by the throat:

Lack of empathy

It is unfortunately a shortcoming that afflicts many DNO productions: the singers chosen often suffer from a lack of empathy, as I have noted here many times before. That Westbroek sings almost everything at turbo volume and with a vibrato as if she had to bridge the distance between Amiens and New Orleans does not contribute to an intimate and compelling experience either. True, La Colla has a pregnant tenor voice with a fine Italian timbre, but he too regularly overpowers himself and fails to make his character believable.

Frankly, not one singer managed to convince me completely in this production. The French-Canadian bass Alain Coulombe is an adequate Geronte and the Italian Alessandro Scotto Di Luzio a ditto Edmondo/lamp bearer, but no more than that. Even the usually so convincing baritone Thomas Oliemans as the brother of Manon Lescaut, was a bit bland, even if he managed to control his voice better and did not indulge in wild outbursts.

The good news

Against the unconvincing vocal cast, however, there is much beauty, thanks to the Chorus of the National Opera and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. The British-German polyglot Alexander Joel moulds Puccini's highly varied sound world into an energising whole with subtle but passionate gestures. Light-footed Italian folk tunes sound infectiously playful, dramatically swelling harmonies full of dissonants take on a chilling charge. At times, these even have Wagnerian proportions.

Joel and his musicians are also perfectly capable of striking a more perfumed French tone, for instance in the minuet in the second act. - In which British tenor Peter Hoare briefly shines as the conceited dance master who does a clumsy dance to the beat of the music, dressed in Louis XIV ballet suit. The chorus sings with equal dedication and care and is, as always, a pleasure to listen to.

Breathtaking sets and costumes

The staging and costuming are superb, right from the breathtaking opening scene. The chorus is arranged on the left side of the stage, in grey suits and adorned with Napoleonic tricorns. The dark, ironclad image recalls the silhouette art so popular in the nineteenth century. Manon and Des Grieux lie front-right on a mirror, which in the final scene will act as a mirage of the spring from which Manon tries in vain to drink water. Incidentally, the sandy desert in that last act looks strikingly like the setting of Orfeo ed Eurydice of the Dutch Travel Opera, but this aside.

A nice contrast to the students' covered shades and natural hairstyles are the colourful clothes and Mozart wigs of Geronte, Lescaut and the dance master. As wife of old buck Geronte, Manon too wears an eighteenth-century dress and ditto hairstyle. Thus, costumière Moidele Bickel, who died last May, makes the difference in status between them clear at a glance. In the third act, when Manon is embarked for her exile to America, the worn rags of her attendants illustrate the shabby ranks to which she has now fallen.

Undeserved boos for Breth

Incomprehensibly and undeservedly, Andrea Breth and her team were met with heartfelt boos afterwards, while the singers, and Westbroek in particular, were heartily applauded. The upside-down world! - But for once I am not keen on turbo voices and flapping vibrati, so go and listen and judge for yourself. Puccini's music and Breth's staging deserve it.

 

More info and tickets via this link.