The sweetness of her glance - or rather, my evil star already in its ascendant and drawing me to my ruin - did not allow me to hesitate for a moment...' So begins the story of Manon Lescaut, a tale of passion and betrayal, of delinquency and misalliance, which moves from early 18th-century Paris - with its theatres, assemblies, and gaming-houses - via prison and deportation to a tragic denouement in the treeless wastes of Louisiana. It is one of the great love stories, and also one of the most enigmatic: how reliable a witness is Des Grieux, Manon's lover, whose tale he narrates? Is Manon a thief and a whore, the image of love itself, or a thoroughly modern woman? Prévost is careful to leave the ambiguities unresolved, and to lay bare the disorders of passion.
Pr�vost's 1731 novel of a flawed and tragic love is richly served by two fine performers. Sean Barrett plays the framing part of an older man to whom Manon's lover, the Chevalier des Grieux, tells the story of their blighted romance. Barrett's warm, rich, slightly raspy timbre brings gravity and warmth to his role. His intelligence especially shines as he narrates the enlightening introduction by
