"Donna non vidi mai" ("I have never seen a woman") is a tenor aria from the act 1 of Giacomo Puccini's opera, Manon Lescaut . The aria is sung by Des Grieux to a beautiful young lady, Manon Lescaut, who is destined for a convent at the will of her father. Des Grieux sings this aria of his feelings for her. [1]
This scene takes place at a square near to the Paris gate in Amiens, France, somewhere in the 18th century.
Donna non vidi mai, simile a questa!
A dirle: "io t'amo,"
a nuova vita l'alma mia si desta.
"Manon Lescaut mi chiamo"
Come queste parole profumate,
mi vagan nello spirto.
e ascose fibre vanno a carezzare.
O sussurro gentil,
deh, non cessar!
I have never seen a woman, such as this one!
To tell her: " I love you",
my soul awakens to a new life.
"Manon Lescaut is my name."
How these fragrant words,
wander around in my mind.
And come to carress my innermost fibers.
Oh! sweet thoughts,
Ah, do not cease!
The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité.
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 19 January 1884, with sets designed by Eugène Carpezat, Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon, and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre.
Mirella Freni, OMRI was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.
Natalina "Lina" Cavalieri was an Italian operatic soprano, actress, and monologist.
Manon Lescaut is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1889 and 1892 to a libretto by Luigi Illica, Marco Praga and Domenico Oliva, based on the 1731 novel Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost. The opera was first performed in 1893 in Turin, at the Teatro Regio.
Manon Lescaut is an opera or opéra comique in three acts by Daniel Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe, and, like Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Massenet's Manon, is based on the Abbé Prévost's novel Manon Lescaut (1731). Auber's version is nowadays the least-performed of the three.
Boulevard Solitude is a Lyrisches Drama or opera in one act by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Grete Weil after the play by Walter Jockisch, in its turn a modern retelling of Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut. The piece is a reworking of the Manon Lescaut story, already adapted operatically by Auber, Massenet and Puccini, and here relocated to Paris after World War II where, as is noted in Grove, the focus of the story moves away from Manon and towards Armand des Grieux. It became Henze's first fully-fledged opera. The work stands out for its strong jazz influences, from a composer who had hitherto been associated with twelve-tone technique.
L'histoire de Manon, generally referred to as Manon, is a ballet choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to music by Jules Massenet and based on the 1731 novel Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost. The ballet was first performed by The Royal Ballet in London in 1974 with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell in the leading roles. It continues to be performed and recognised internationally.
Gilda Dalla Rizza was an important Italian soprano.
Cesira Ferrani was an Italian operatic soprano who is best known for debuting two of the most iconic roles in opera history, Mimì in the original 1896 production of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème and the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut in its 1893 world premiere. Ferrani sang a wide repertoire that encompassed not only verismo opera but the works of composers like Verdi, Gounod, Wagner, and Debussy.
"La donna è mobile" is the Duke of Mantua's canzone from the beginning of act 3 of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto (1851). The canzone is famous as a showcase for tenors. Raffaele Mirate's performance of the bravura aria at the opera's 1851 premiere was hailed as the highlight of the evening. Before the opera's first public performance, the aria was rehearsed under tight secrecy: a necessary precaution, as "La donna è mobile" proved to be incredibly catchy, and soon after the aria's first public performance it became popular to sing among Venetian gondoliers.
Giuseppe Giacomini is an Italian dramatic tenor. An impressive tenor voice thanks to its richness and power, Giacomini, is known as "Bepi" amongst his fans.
Jonas Kaufmann is a German operatic tenor. He is best known for his performances in spinto roles such as Don José in Carmen, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, and the title role in Don Carlos. He has also sung leading tenor roles in the operas of Richard Wagner in Germany and abroad, most notably at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He is also an accomplished Lieder singer. In 2014 The New York Times described Kaufmann as "a box-office draw, and... the most important, versatile tenor of his generation."
Giuseppe Cremonini was an Italian operatic tenor who had a prominent opera career in Europe and the United States during the last decade of the nineteenth century.
Jean La Brunière de Médicis, known by the stage name of Ferdinand, was a French ballet dancer.
Armando Agnini was a successful Italian stage director of opera.
Manon Lescaut is a 1926 silent German feature film based on the oft-filmed novel by Abbe Prevost. It stars Lya De Putti and was directed by Arthur Robison. It was produced and distributed by renowned German film company Universum Film AG better known as UFA. A young actress named Marlene Dietrich had a supporting role in this production. A set decorator on this film was the soon to be American Expatriate Paul Leni, who would find great success as a director in Hollywood. It was shot at the Babelsberg and Tempelhof Studios, both of which were controlled by UFA.
When a Man Loves is a 1927 American silent historical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced and distributed by Warner Bros.. The picture stars John Barrymore and features Dolores Costello in the frequently filmed story of Abbe Prevost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut. The UK release title was His Lady.
Essential Pavarotti II is an album by tenor Luciano Pavarotti. It was released in 1991 by Decca Records and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart. In doing so it duplicated its predecessor and became the second classical album to achieve this.
Stefano La Colla is an Italian tenor who has given recitals and performed in opera internationally.
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