View source for Le portrait de Manon

{{short description|Opera by Jules Massenet}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox opera 
| name              = Le portrait de Manon
| type              = [[Opéra comique]]
| composer          = [[Jules Massenet]]
| image             = Jules Massenet by Eugène Pirou.jpg
| image_upright     = 0.8
| caption           = The composer in 1895
| librettist        = [[Georges Boyer]]
| language          = French
| based_on          = 
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1894|05|08|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Opéra-Comique]], Paris
}}'''''Le portrait de Manon''''' is an [[opéra comique]] in one act by [[Jules Massenet]] to a French [[libretto]] by [[Georges Boyer]]. It is related to Massenet's 1884 opera ''[[Manon]]'', widely regarded to be his masterpiece. However ''Le portrait de Manon'' is rarely performed today.

==Performance history==
The opera was first performed at the [[Opéra Comique]] in Paris on 8 May 1894.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le portrait de Manon|language=fr|url=https://www.artlyriquefr.fr/oeuvres/Portrait%20de%20Manon.html|website=l'Art Lyrique Français |accessdate=29 July 2019}}</ref> After its premiere the work was performed at [[La Monnaie]] in November 1894 and the [[Teatro del Fondo]] in [[Naples]] in December 1894. The work received its United States premiere at the [[French Opera House]] in New Orleans in 1895. It was also produced at [[The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel]] on 13 December 1897. The Opéra Comique revived the opera in 1900 and it was mounted at the Théâtre Lyrique in September 1922,<ref>Irvine D. ''Massenet: a chronicle of his life and times.'' Amadeus Press, Portland, 1997</ref> after which the work fell out of the performance repertory. After a more than 60-year absence from the stage, ''Le portrait de Manon'' was mounted at [[La Fenice]] on 13 April 1985. Four years later the [[Opéra de Monte-Carlo]] staged the work.<ref name="amadeus">{{Almanacco|match=Le portrait de Manon}}</ref> The opera was most recently revived by the [[Glimmerglass Opera]] in 2005. In 2014 "kultur.theater.musik" produced the first performance in German (as ''[[:de:Das Bildnis der Manon|Das Bildnis der Manon]]'') at the 'Sommeroper im Amthof' festival in [[Feldkirchen in Kärnten|Feldkirchen]], Carinthia, and in other theatres in Lower Austria.

== Roles ==
[[File:Costumes for Aurore in Jules Massenet's Le portrait de Manon - Original.jpg|thumb|Costumes for Aurore]]
{| class="wikitable"
!Role
!Voice type
!Premiere Cast,<ref name="amadeus"/> 8 May 1894<br>(Conductor: [[Jules Danbé]])
|-
|Des Grieux
|[[baritone]]
|[[Lucien Fugère]]
|-
|Tiberge
|[[tenor]]
|[[Pierre Grivot]]
|-
|Jean de Moncerf
|[[mezzo-soprano]]
|[[Suzanne Elven]]
|-
|Aurore
|[[soprano]]
|[[Jeanne Laisné (soprano)|Jeanne Laisné]]
|-
|}

==Synopsis==
The opera opens with a chorus of peasants singing outside the home of the Chevalier Des Grieux. They remind him of his own happier days and he looks at his miniature portrait of Manon. His nephew Jean arrives for a history lesson but tells Des Grieux that he is in love with Aurore. Des Grieux believes that the young girl, who is neither of noble birth nor rich, is unworthy of Jean.

Tiberge tries to persuade his old friend Des Grieux to allow young love to run its course.

Aurore and Jean are in despair. Jean tries to snatch a kiss from her but in the process knocks against a chest and the portrait of Manon falls out and the pair admire the portrait. Tiberge calls Aurore away. Des Grieux lectures Jean again and sends him away. Aurore appears wearing the dress that Manon wore when she first met Des Grieux in [[Amiens]]. Tiberge reveals that Aurore is the niece of Manon, the daughter of her brother Lescaut. Des Grieux yields to his arguments and consents to Jean's marriage to Aurore.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMSLP2|work=Le_portrait_de_Manon_(Massenet,_Jules)|cname=Le portrait de Manon}}

{{Jules Massenet|state=collapsed}}
{{Manon Lescaut}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait De Manon, Le}}
[[Category:Operas by Jules Massenet]]
[[Category:French-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:One-act operas]]
[[Category:1894 operas]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique]]