Search - Massenet, Feraldy, Villier :: Massenet: Manon

Manon is France's unofficial national opera: Carmen belongs to the world, but Manon loses something (often a lot) when performed by non-French casts. This recording was made at the height of the famous Opera Comique with its highly specific performance tradition. This may be essential to understanding the opera. In the title role, Germaine Feraldy has a coloratura technique so natural, it never sounds like a trick and instantly reveals the dramatic intent behind passages that normally seem to exist for ornamental purposes. The voice has body--none of the usual thin nasality--which is also the case with Ukrainian tenor Joseph Rogatchewsky. The 1928-29 sound quality can be challenging, but any dedicated opera lover has to get over it. --David Patrick Stearns