#203 The Smell of Despair

Des Grieux is totally despair. The images of his past are hunting him: It's hard to forget about Manon. His determination is switching to submission, just to win the battle again.

What I like most at Alagna's singing, is how he's able to express his determination. The first fuyez! are not real, he's in two minds. But then, he returns to God. The decision has been made, nobody can convince him back: Fuyez! Loin de moi!

Composer: Jules Massenet
Work: Manon, "Je suis seul!... Ah, fuyez"
Recording: Roberto Alagna, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Richard Armstrong

#114 The Smell of Everlasting Sleep

There's no hope in the music, no hope in the words. Painful, victimizing love. In this aria, Federico invokes  peaceful sleep but he wants to be punished, he wants to suffer. The only imaginable sleep would be death.

Alagna has a strong voice, sometimes too strong for me, so I've tried to find something soft in his 1995 recital. His voice is sad and beautiful, his passion is self-consuming. You don't need to know the whole opera to guess he'll kill himself soon.

Composer: Francesco Cilea
Work: L'Arlesiana, "Ela solita storia del pastore..."
Recording: Roberto Alagna, The London Philharmonic, Richard Armstrong