' is a ' (lyric drama) or opera in one act by

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...

to a German libretto by

Grete Weil Grete Weil (18 July 1906 – 14 May 1999) was a German writer.Monacensia Literaturarchiv und Bibliothek.Grete Weil" ''Literaturportal Bayern''. Biography She was born Margarete Elisabeth Dispeker, the daughter of a prominent lawyer in Munich. She ...

after the play by

Walter Jockisch Walter Max Guido Jockisch (20 February 1907 – 22 March 1970) was a German pedagogue, dramaturge, librettist, and opera director. Family Born in Bad Arolsen, Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Jockisch was the only child of the Oberregierungs-Me ...

, in its turn a modern retelling of

Abbé Prévost Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles ( , , ; 1 April 169725 November 1763), usually known simply as the Abbé Prévost, was a French priest, author, and novelist. Life and works He was born at Hesdin, Artois, and first appears with the full nam ...

's 1731 novel ''

Manon Lescaut ''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'' (''Memoirs and Adventures of a Ma ...

''. The piece is a reworking of the Manon Lescaut story, already adapted operatically by Auber,

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) ...

and

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

, and here relocated to Paris after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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.Clements 1998, p. 571 The work stands out for its strong

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

influences, from a composer who had hitherto been associated with

twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

. The premiere was given on 17 February 1952, at the Landestheater Hannover.

Performance history

Although it never became part of the core operatic repertoire, ''Boulevard Solitude'' continued to receive performances after the premiere. It was given in both Naples and Rome in 1954 and it received its UK premiere in London by the

New Opera Company The New Opera Company was a British opera company active during the period 1956 to 1984. It was mainly based at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London and later worked in co-ordination with English National Opera. The company was responsible for the premi ...

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

in 1962 where the cast included Peter Glossop and April Cantelo. The first performance in the United States was at the

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newl ...

in 1967. The opera continues to be performed and is popular with audiences, with a London revival in 2001 going on to sell heavily despite much negative critical reception and attacks from the

tabloid press Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...

. A new production by

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

in 2014 was also well received.Andrew Clements
"''Boulevard Solitude'' review"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (London), 27 February 2014. (Retrieved 4 March 2014)

Roles

Synopsis

:''Scene 1: The waiting room of a busy train station in a large French city''. The student Armand des Grieux meets a young woman by the name of Manon Lescaut, who is being brought to boarding school in Lausanne by her brother. Armand instantly falls in love with Manon, and the two run off to Paris together. :''Scene 2: An attic in Paris''. The two live together happily, although in poverty, in an attic room. Armand has been cut off by his father on account of his dissolute lifestyle, and is forced to ask his friend Francis for money. However, Manon's brother reappears during Armand's absence and convinces her to visit an admirer of hers, the wealthy older man Lilaque Sr. :''Scene 3: An elegant room in Lilaque's house''. Manon becomes Lilaque Sr.'s mistress, but remains in love with Armand. Her brother appears and begs her for money. When she refuses him saying that she has none, he breaks into Lilaque Sr.'s safe. However Lilaque discovers them and evicts Manon. :''Scene 4: The library of the university''. Sometime later, Armand, Francis, and some other students are studying the work of the Roman poet

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...

. Armand is still in love with Manon but this love is fading. Francis tells Armand about Manon's robbing Lilaque and her expulsion from his house, but Armand doesn't believe it. Francis leaves angrily and Manon enters. Manon and Armand read a poem that revives their love. :''Scene 5: In a bar''. Manon and Armand are together again. Armand is addicted to drugs in order to try to forget the past. Lescaut (Manon's brother) brings him

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

in a bar and asks for Manon, who he wishes to

procure Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or servi ...

for Lilaque Jr. When Manon arrives Armand gets angry with Lescaut and Lalique Jr. Manon tries to calm him and then leaves with the two men. Armand receives the message that Manon wishes to see him the next day, when Lilaque leaves. Armand is left confused. :''Scene 6: The apartment of Lilaque Jr''. Armand and Manon are together in Lilaque Jr.'s bedroom. Manon is satisfied with the new situation of being under the protection of Lilaque Jr. but Armand is nostalgic for the past in which he still lives. Lescaut appears and warns Armand that he should leave before the servants find him. Armand cuts a picture out of its frame in order to sell it, but is discovered by a servant who reports the incident to Lilaque Sr. who calls the police. Lescaut fights with Lilaque Sr. until Manon shoots the old man with a revolver that had been pressed into her hand by her brother. As Lescaut and Armand flee, Manon is arrested. :''Scene 7: The exterior of a prison''. Armand arrives hoping to see his former lover before she is imprisoned. The scene ends with musical numbers from the life of the couple.

References

Notes Sources *Boyden, Matthew (2002), ''The Rough Guide to Opera'', Rough Guides, London. . *Clements, Andrew (1998), "''Boulevard Solitude''", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', Vol. One, pp. 571–572. London: Macmillan Publishers,
Work details
(synopsis and libretto in German), Opera-Guide.ch {{Authority control Adaptations of works by Antoine François Prévost Operas 1952 operas German-language operas Operas by Hans Werner Henze One-act operas Operas based on plays Operas set in France Paris in fiction