Met Opera: Opolais and Alagna in a Nazi-Era "Manon Lescaut"

True love rarely, if ever, runs smoothly, but it seldom has quite as many roadblocks as Puccini throws up in Manon Lescaut, the composer's first great success, or the political pothole of the Met Opera's new production by Sir Richard Eyre, but with Kristine Opolais in the title role and Roberto Alagna as her lover Chevalier des Grieux it overcomes all in the end. Puccini poured passion, longing, and despair into the score, and Opolais and Alagna deliver excellent performances that bring out ever...