The Royal Ballet currently performs Kenneth MacMillan’s classic showpiece Manon. Having been created for this company, the piece has now also entered the classical ballet repertory worldwide. The story itself is famous, following the trials of a young girl, Manon, torn between her impetuous love for the student Des Grieux and her desire for wealth and comfort as a kept woman of rich men.
The two central roles are perfect to bring out the skill and dramatic power of any dancers, especially with MacMillan’s memorable duets that expose the raw emotional currents of the doomed love affair in intense and adult fashion, and with this revival come several debuts in them from up-and-coming leading dancers of The Royal Ballet.
The rich stage design emphasizes the life and look of the 18th century, whether at the bustling courtyard of an inn where the couple first meet or later with the louche atmosphere of a Parisian house of ‘entertainment’ and its courtesans.
Through it all is appealing and expressive music drawn from Massenet, skilfully woven into a ballet score that alternates the sensuous and the dramatic. A moral tale on adult themes brings real depth to the drama, but above all Manon offers a chance to enjoy the very best of world-class ballet.
The ballet is based on a 1731 novella by the French writer Abbé Antoine-François Prévost, which also inspired operas by Auber, Massenet and Puccini. In 1974, the choreographer Kenneth MacMillan wrote a ballet based on Manon’s story, which was also set to music by Massenet (but with none of the music from the opera), arranged by British composer Martin Yates.
You can still catch performances on November 15, 17, 26 (matinee and evening) – click here for more information.
Opus Arte features a production of Manon from Ballet Australia, proof that MacMillan’s choreography has now entered the classic repertory worldwide. The score drawn from Massenet’s music is available in a performance from the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Richard Bonynge. For other versions of the tale of the doomed lovers why not explore Massenet’s opera with super-stars Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu conducted by the musical director of the Royal Opera House Antonio Pappano or Puccini’s famous treatment with Mirella Freni and Placido Domingo conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli.