Manon Lescaut: Dramma Lirico in Quattro Atti

Musical Score Printed on 8 1/2" x 11" * * * * * * MANON LESCAUT The Abbe Prevost wrote the story which has been used as the foundation of this opera. The earlier scenes are laid in Paris, Amiens, Havre, etc., and the last tragic incident takes place in Louisiana, which in the latter part of the eighteenth century was still a French province. The rising of the curtain on the first act discloses the courtyard of an inn at Amiens, where a gay gathering of cavaliers and soldiers are holding forth in their usual festive manner-playing cards, relating exaggerated adventures and flirting with the village damsels. "While the revelry is at its height Des Grieux appears on the scene, dressed as a student, and, joining in the jollity, voices a lovely air. From his manner and sprightliness it would be hard to realize that he has been destined for holy orders; in reality his mind has turned far from the contemplative existence proscribed by the Church. In the second act Manon is found surrounded by every possible luxury, supplied by the unlimited means of Geronte. As her brother predicted, she has speedily tired of the attentions of her student lover, and has chafed under his restricted expenditures. Because of this she is only too ready to seek the protection of Geronte upon the advice of her rascally brother. Manon then laments the cruel fate that compelled her to desert her lover, but is soon wooed back to her usual gayety by the entrance of a company of madrigal singers, sent by the doting Geronte to entertain her. The third act shows the water front of Havre with a man-of-war at the quay, and in the foreground the barracks. It is the hour before dawn, and Des Grieux and Lescaut appear to effect the escape of Manon, who has been tried and sentenced to deportation to the French colony in Louisiana. The unhappy lover speaks with Manon through the barred window and tells her that though she is publicly disgraced he loves her still and that he has come to secure her release, when the sound of a shot awakens the slumbering soldiers. The fourth and last act is short, but tragical. The scene is laid on a vast desert near New Orleans, whioh proves that the Abbe Prevost's knowledge of geography was by no means commensurate with his profound insight into human nature. To this bare and arid place come Manon and Des Grieux, forced by inexorable fate to flee from the city. They have wandered far and are weak from hunger, while the tattered condition of their garments bespeaks their terrible condition. Death has set its seal on Manon's beautiful features, and in a long duet in which vows of unutterable love are pledged, they abandon hope of relief. Unable to advance further Manon falls to the ground, her senses desert her, and death relieves her misery. As the last breath flutters heavenward, Des Grieux falls unconscious across her body.