Act V, originally given as a second scene to the fourth act. A lonely

spot on the road to Havre. _Des Grieux_ has been freed through the intercession of his father. _Manon_, however, with other women of her class, has been condemned to deportation to the French colony of Louisiana. _Des Grieux_ and _Lescaut_ are waiting for the prisoners to pass under an escort of soldiers. _Des Grieux_ hopes to release _Manon_ by attacking the convoy, but _Lescaut_ restrains him. The guardsman finds little difficulty in bribing the sergeant to permit _Manon_, who already is nearly dead from exhaustion, to remain behind with _Des Grieux_, between whom the rest of the opera is a dolorous duet, ending in _Manon's_ death. Even while dying her dual nature asserts itself. Feebly opening her eyes, almost at the last, she imagines she sees jewels and exclaims, "Oh! what lovely gems!" She turns to _Des Grieux_: "I love thee! Take thou this kiss. 'Tis my farewell for ever." It is, of course, this dual nature which makes the character drawn by Abbé Prévost so interesting.

* * * * *

"Manon" by Massenet is one of the popular operas in the modern repertoire. Its music has charm, and the leading character, in which Miss Farrar appears with such distinction, is both a good singing and a good acting rôle, a valuable asset to a prima donna. I have an autograph letter of Massenet's written, presumably to Sibyl Sanderson, half an hour before the curtain rose on the _première_ of "Manon," January 19, 1884. In it he writes that within that brief space of time they will know whether their hopes are to be confirmed, or their illusions dissipated. In New York, eleven years later, Miss Sanderson failed to make any impression in the rôle.

The beauty of Massenet's score is responsible for the fact that audiences are not troubled over the legal absurdity in the sentence of deportation pronounced upon _Manon_ for being a courtesan and a gambler's accomplice. In the story she also is a thief.

The last act is original with the librettists. In the story the final scene is laid in Louisiana (see Puccini's _Manon Lescaut_). The effective scene in the convent of St. Sulpice was overlooked by Puccini, as it also was by Scribe, who wrote the libretto for Auber's "Manon." This latter work survives in the laughing song, "L'Éclat de Rire," which Patti introduced in the lesson scene in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," and which Galli-Curci has revived for the same purpose.

LE CID

"Le Cid"; opera in four acts and ten scenes; the poem by MM. d'Ennery, Louis Gallet, and Édouard Blau; music by Massenet; produced at the Opéra on November 30, 1885. The authors of the libretto of "Le Cid" declared at the start of it that they had been inspired by Guillen de Castro and by Corneille. The sole masterpiece of Corneille which is built about a sort of psychological analysis of the character of _Chimène_ and of the continual conflict of the two feelings which divide her heart, in fact would not have given them sufficient action; on the other hand they would not have been able to find in it the pretext for adornments, for sumptuousness, for the rich stage setting which the French opera house has been accustomed for two centuries to offer to its public.

This is the way the opera is arranged: First act, first scene: at the house of the _Comte de Gormas_; scene between _Chimène_ and the _Infanta_. Second scene: entering the cathedral of Burgos. _Rodrigo_ is armed as a knight by the _King_. The _King_ tells _Don Diego_ that he names him governor of the _Infanta_. Quarrel of _Don Diego_ and _Don Gormas_. Scene of _Don Diego_ and _Don Rodrigo_: "Rodrigue, as-tu du coeur?" Second act, third scene: A street in Burgos at night. Stanzas by _Rodrigo_: "Percé jusques au fond du coeur." _Rodrigo_ knocks at the door of _Don Gormas_: "À moi, comte, deux mots!" Provocation; duel; death of _Don Gormas_. _Chimène_ discovers that _Rodrigo_ is the slayer of her father. Fourth scene: The public square in Burgos. A popular festival. Ballet. _Chimène_ arrives to ask the _King_ for justice. _Don Diego_ defends his son. A Moorish courier arrives to declare war on the _King_ on the part of his master. The _King_ orders _Rodrigo_ to go and fight the infidels. Third act, fifth scene: The chamber of _Chimène_: "Pleurez, pleurez, mes yeux, et fondez-vous en eau." Scene of _Chimène_ and _Rodrigo_. Sixth scene: the camp of _Rodrigo_. Seventh scene: _Rodrigo's_ tent. The vision. St. James appears to him. Eighth scene: the camp. The battle. Defeat of the Moors. Fourth act, ninth scene: The palace of the Kings at Granada. _Rodrigo_ is believed to be dead. _Chimène_ mourns for him: "Éclate ô mon amour, tu n'as plus rien à craindre." Tenth scene: A courtyard in the palace. _Rodrigo_ comes back as a conqueror. _Chimène_ forgives him. The end.

DON QUICHOTTE

Opera in five acts by Jules Massenet; text by Henri Cain, after the play by Jacques Le Lorrain, based on the romance of Cervantes. Produced, Monte Carlo, 1910.

CHARACTERS

LA BELLE DULCINÉE _Contralto_ DON QUICHOTTE _Bass_ SANCHO _Baritone_ PEDRO, burlesquer _Soprano_ GARCIAS, burlesquer _Soprano_ RODRIGUEZ _Tenor_ JUAN _Tenor_ TWO VALETS _Baritone_

TENEBRUN, chief, and other bandits, friends of Dulcinée, and others.

_Time_--The Middle Ages.

_Place_--Spain.