Puccini - Manon Lescaut - Sola, perduta, abbandonata - Renata Scotto

Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The story is based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost. A vast plain near the outskirts of the New Orleans territory The act begins with the lovers are making their way across the desert hoping to find protection in a British settlement. Wandering in the desert without any water, the ailing Manon is exhausted. She falls and can’t go any further (Des Grieux, Manon: Tutta su me ti posa) ; (Des Grieux: Vedi, son io che piango) ; (Manon, Des Grieux: Sei tu che piangi). Des Grieux is alarmed by Manon’s appearance and goes to look for water. While he is gone, Manon recalls her past, muses about her fatal beauty and her fate (Manon: Sola, perduta, abbandonata). Des Grieux returns, having been unable to find water. Manon bids him a heart-rending farewell and dies in his arms. Overcome by grief, Des Grieux falls unconscious across her body (Manon, Des Grieux: Fra le tue braccia, amore).