About the work
One-act opéra comique by Jules Massenet to a libretto by Georges Boyer, premiered on 8 May 1894 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Massenet conceived it as a brief, nostalgic sequel to his ten-years-older success „Manon“, reusing musical motifs from that earlier opera.
Plot
The aging Chevalier des Grieux lives withdrawn, absorbed in memories of the late Manon. He refuses to let his ward Jean marry the young Aurore, hoping to spare him heartbreak. Only when Aurore appears before him wearing Manon's old costume and reveals herself as her niece does Des Grieux relent.
Cultural significance
As an epilogue to one of the most performed French operas of the late nineteenth century, the short work has always stood in the shadow of its model and remains rarely staged; Massenet scholarship nonetheless values it as an attractive petite piece for its musical echoes of „Manon“.