San Francisco Opera’s “Manon” takes nearly an hour to reach its first emotionally engaging moment. But by then, the production has already made a long evening feel even longer.
The passage comes when the volatile title character (soprano Amina Edris), who is about to part from her lover, Chevalier des Grieux (tenor Pene Pati), sings a quietly poignant farewell to the table the couple shares in their modest bare light-bulb Paris flat, lit by a bare light bulb.
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“Manon”: San Francisco Opera. Through Nov. 1. $30-$456. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-3330. https://www.sfopera.com
Des Grieux follows with a radiant aria, “Le Rève de Manon” (Dream of Manon), a vision of domestic bliss not meant to be with his ambitious, materialistic beloved. Softly pulsing strings, guided by Music Director Eun Sun Kim, loft Pati’s exquisitely luminous voice along.
Knowing that Pati and Edris are real-life husband and wife and local favorites who are both Merola Program and Adler Fellow alums may add an extra frisson to this and other scenes. But that can’t compensate for what feels like a long 3 1/2 hours at the War Memorial Opera House, where Jules Massenet’s “Manon” opened Thursday, Oct. 15, for a seven-performance run.
Pene Pati as Des Grieux, left, and Amina Edris as the title role in Massenet’s “Manon.” (Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)
The problems begin almost as soon as the curtain rises on director Vincent Boussard’s production, first seen here in 2017. Like some hard-edged abstract art installation, Vincent Lemaire’s set features a diagonally angled back panel and a shiny mirror floor and side pieces. A collection of straight back chairs, which get shuttled around, leave the uneasy impression that a big crowd never showed up. Gary Marder’s lighting goes in for portentous big shadows.
The imposingly bleak set, topped by a gloomy sky, works against the 1884 opera’s busy musical storytelling. After a parade of mostly minor characters marked by the comic relief of a randy old man (the amusing tenor Steven Cole), Manon arrives by coach and is met by her cousin Lescaut (baritone Vitor Bispo, in a modest American debut).
Dressed as a kind of 19th-century Annie Hall with a big, flowered hat and layered skirts (costumes by the director), Edris sings with a bright, metallic edge. A few hysterical outbursts belie the character’s innocence and inexperience. She’s supposed to be headed for a convent, which is clearly not in the cards.
Pene Pati as Des Grieux in Massenet’s “Manon.” (Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)
Manon is soon drawn to the lure of the high life of Parisian fashion and excitement. She barely cares who she hooks up with as long as he’s wealthy. These scenes are both routine and congested, with mostly static blocking.
The story turns in the middle of the third act, which is set in the seminary where Des Grieux has retreated to take holy orders. A remorseful Manon seeks him out there. Love gradually trumps religion.
Pati is the production’s vocal star. He’s marvelous in that scene, resignation, fury and erotic passion carved by turns into every measure. His honeyed tone is so focused and clear that the softest pianissimo rings out as clearly as a declamation.
In telling counterpoint, bass James Cresswell makes the most of his role as des Grieux’s sonorous, sober father.
San Francisco Opera’s production of Massenet’s “Manon.” (Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)
Edris has her moments but lacks Pati’s full immersion in the role. She delivers one of the opera’s signal arias, “N’est-ce plus ma main presse?” (Is it no longer my hand you now hold?), without the poignancy she found earlier on.
The swift final acts are set in a frenzied casino and on a roadside where the heroine dies. In place of an emotional payoff, there are visual effects bearing diminishing returns. A soft-sided chandelier descends like an enormous, entrapping sea creature. A leashed ballerina totters on pointe.
In the end, that’s not quite what the music needs.
Steven Winn is a freelance writer. This review has been provided in partnership with San Francisco Classical Voice.
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This article originally published at Review: San Francisco Opera’s ‘Manon’ struggles despite a standout Pene Pati.