OPERA: MANON LESCAUT

With five librettists working on Manon Lescaut, it is not surprising that the story of Puccini’s heroine stretches credibility, beginning as she is about to enter a convent in Paris and ending with her death in the Louisiana desert in the arms of her long-suffering lover Des Grieux. In between, she swans around the luxurious quarters of the “powdered Pluto,” Geronte, the rich nobleman for whom she has deserted Des Grieux. Then when she has it off with Des Grieux, Geronte has her arrested as an immoral woman and she is packed off to jail and sentenced to banishment in America.

Although lacking the signature arias of Puccini’s later works, Manon is nonetheless musically rich, with Cheryl Barker triumphant in her role as the virgin/whore. Singing while dying of thirst is no mean feat. Teddy Tahu Rhodes proves he can sing lyric baritone as Manon’s libertine brother, and Jorge Lopez-Yanez is as passionate a Puccini lover as you could get, his heart-rending lament in Act three as Manon languishes in jail sure to moisten the driest eye. Conductor Alexander Polianichko coaxes great expressiveness from the orchestra, while Roger Kirk has great fun with the costumes in Act two.

Until Aug 13, Sydney Opera House, $93-250, 9318 8200 or opera-australia.org.au