The 1979 book by French philosopher Catherine Clément, Opera: The Undoing of Women, explores this opera in five acts that premiered at the Opéra-Comique in the early 1900 and was conducted by which conductor?
Opera: The Undoing of Women Opera: The Undoing of Women (French: "L’Opéra ou la Défaite des femmes") is a 1979 book by French philosopher Catherine Clément. In it, Clément explores the way in which traditional operatic plots often feature the death of female characters - in her words, "the infinitely repetitive spectacle of a woman who dies, murdered." Besides the literal deaths of characters such as Carmen, Cio-Cio-San, Isolde and Mélisande, Clément also discusses metaphorical deaths - for example, Turandot's power and the Marschallin's sexuality.
Manon Manon (] ) is an "opéra comique" in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel "L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" by the Abbé Prévost. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 19 January 1884, with sets designed by Eugène Carpezat (Act I), Auguste-Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (Acts II and III), and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Act IV).