This imaginative Barcelona production of Massenet's tearjerker about a woman gone wrong in the dissolute world of 18th-century Paris features a brilliant performance of the title role by Natalie Dessay and an abundance of fine vocalism from most of her colleagues. Dessay's expressive face makes Manon's thoughts instantly accessible to the viewer, the way she holds her body, light in Manon's good moods, heavy when the tragedy unfolds. Her singing intensifies the drama as well, her opening aria innocent, her remembrances in Adieu mon petite table touching, the coloratura in her waltz song thrilling, the pathos of her demise fully captured. Rolando Villaz