Manon Lescaut

[BorradaporlaLluvia]

I could stay here forever...

They're so beautiful, so perfect, so... breathtaking

Thanks so much.. Again tears peep from my eyes...

[vivadomingo1]

Great scene and singing...Domingo hits a C one one knee! Not bad for a guy without top notes!

[ceb2633]

What an amazing pair! Heartbreaking. Also, Puccini was not strong on geography, considering the desert surrounding New Orleans...Got to love the guy.

[RRydnew]

Love the opera but it shows then, as now, how Europeans are not taught much about the Americas espically North America unless it benefits or supports thier narrow opnions.

[mwp567]

@RRydnew europeans are probably taught more about the states than americans about europe. I think i'll puke if another american asks me if i'm from sweden when i say i'm swiss.

[RRydnew]

@mwp567

Not really. For example, this opera. The closest desert to New Orleans, LA is in NM. All of LA is sea level or lower.

[mascara60]

@ceb2633

Don't blame it on Puccini. The French writer Abbé Prévost, who wrote in 1731 *Les aventures du chevallier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" set the final scene in the then French Louisiana where Manon was deported as a prostitute. If L'Abbé Prévost had an intimate knowledge of the Parisian and bourgeois life of his time, he knew little of Louisiana.

[RRydnew]

I know others may have done this better but to watch Te Kanawa/Domingo sing this and Otello too....they act so great together and their voices seem to compliment so well...Hypnotizing!

[CurzonRoad]

ManonLes88: Thank you.... very much! and to the friend who has dropped this in my mailbox! Merci!

[GermanOperaSinger]

Not a Domingo fan but have to give credit where it's due, he was fantastic in this role and enjoyed him here. Nice high C by him and he is kneeling too. Fantastic performance by both of them.

[MetropeJocelyn]

Dear GermanOperaSinger, far be it from me to partake in that somewhat ludicrous debate upon high Cs, yet I would not be surprise if this one had be re-mastered - as it is very often done these days - if you catch my drift. Having said that, they both sound great in this 1983 version. Ta,J

[pddwatch81]

Another take on this scene :)

watch?v=voMlwdO8xEc

[pacoenfadonha]

I love Puccini, love this Opera, love this act.

Great music, no question about it.

But... HOW DID they got lost in the middle of the desert like that? What happened to the ship crew?

Does anyone know?

[jakethewoz]

It's not in the opera libretto, but in the original novel, there is this whole other part about how they must flee New Orleans (which is where the captain of the ship takes them) because Des Grieux thinks he's killed a man. Then they die in the desert.

[GermanOperaSinger]

If I remember correctly, Des grieux doesn't actually die but wanders off into a town eventually at the end.

[irishlad2012]

That's correct. Des Grieux then travels back to France and enters the seminary, which I found knd of funny. Renato convinces Manon not to enter the convent at the beginning of the novel, and in the end he chooses the male equivalent.

[musicyh]

It's heart-breaking...the sheer power of raw emotion.

[OettingerCroat]

domingo sings a C! awesome!!!

[1michael4]

what can I say about opera, but in design; in a place where everything is desolate the emotion must be carried by the music. its too fast...

[daffodilnyc]

I agree... Sola perdutta was too fast. I even got the impression that she tried to slow it down a bit but couldn't.

[jh89253]

que grandes interpretaciones!!!! la primera vez que ví este video lloré, Domingo es el mejor Des Grieux en la historia de la ópera, y Bravo por Kiri quien estaba enferma esa noche, y quien por ese rompimiento de voz dramatizó más su interpretación, BRAVO!!!

[LizN90]

Always laughed at desertsin New Orleans! LOL I love this opera. I am a die-hard Kiri fan, but I'm not sure Kiri is the best Manon (although she apparently was sick when she performed this--we should all be so talented to sing this well under such circumstances). Domingo is THE definitive DesGrieux for me!

[kamikazekate]

Just before this placido pleads with Kiri to Respond to him and the fear in his face and eyes is heart wrenching! What an actor. I love this production as i have probably said on other clips! It is heart wrenching!

[ceb2633]

My heart just breaks hearing them. How wonderful.  You have to love Puccini for those dang deserts in Louisiana. Thanks so much for posting.

[OperaGhost1990]

I love when Placido takes the sand.

[singinginachurch]

The power in this performance is extrordinary.

BRAVO!GREAT VIDEO!

[macattali]

AMAZING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[LaBelleHelene]

I could stay here forever...

They're so beautiful, so perfect, so... breathtaking... ;)

Thanks sooooo much... Again tears peep from my eyes...

[55patri]

extraordinaria interpretación

[SeniarYdnew]

kazimierzmichalkiwic,

check out the Otello scene for more! 

WRR

[kazimierzmichalkiwic]

great , please more