COMPOSERS: Massenet
LABELS: DG
PERFORMER: Gruberova; Wiener Staatsoper/Fischer; dir. Ponnelle
Massenet’s masterpiece is presented in this 1983 Ponnelle staging from Vienna as a periodpiece, with stagy sets to match. Neither Gruberova’s Manon nor Araiza’s Des Grieux is love’s young dream, though they sing well, aided by idiomatic conducting from Adám Fischer.