Description

 Beverly Sills was so dedicated to this role that her name always comes first to our minds when someone mentions Massenet\'s Manon. A splendid cast has been assembled to accompany her in this classic recording done in 1970. Apart from Gedda singing des Grieux, we have none less than Gérard Souzay as Lescaut and Gabriel Bacquier as des Grieux\'s father. The entire production is a joy, actually, under the baton of the great Julius Rudel. rnrnrnJULES MASSENET (1842-1912) rnrnMANON rnOpéra comique en cinq actes rnrnLibretto: Henri Meilhac & Philippe Gille rnafter «L\'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut» by Antoine-François Prévost rnrnManon: BEVERLY SILLS rnLe chevalier des Grieux, a student: NICOLAI GEDDA rnLescaut, a soldier, Manon\'s cousin: GÉRARD SOUZAY rnLe comte des Grieux, Chevalier\'s father: GABRIEL BACQUIER rnGuillot de Morfontaine, nobleman: NICO CASTEL rnBrétigny, nobleman: MICHEL TREMPONT rnRosette, actress: PATRICIA KERN rnPoussette, actress: MICHÈLE RAYNAUD rnJavotte, actress: HÉLIA T\'HÉZAN rnrnInnkeeper, townspeople of Amiens, guardsmen, passengers, porters, postilions, a servant, milliners, vendors, a cook, citizens of Paris, strollers, noblemen, townswomen of Saint-Sulpice, the porter of the seminary, croupiers, gamblers, sharpers, soldiers, Sergeant rnrnAmbrosian Opera Chorus (Chorus Master: John McCarthy) rnNew Philharmonia Orchestra rnJULIUS RUDEL rnrnFirst performance: Paris, Opéra-Comique, 19 January 1884 rnrnRecording: London, All Saints\' Church, Tooting, 7/1970 rnProduced by Michael Williamson rnAssistant Producer: Michael Gardener rnAssistant to Producer: Siva Elia rnRecording Engineers: Robert J. Gooch, A. Stephens rnrnDigitally remastered by DG at 96 kHz/24 bit from the original mastertapes rnrnCOVERS AND BOOKLET SCANS