Ok, I lied, this was my real first recording--bought it years ago and forgot about it. Note that the Amazon review calls Freni "the only soprano ever to make something special out of Micaela." Nice.

I think most of the reviewers are a bit off on this film... I thought it was hardcore

Despite the low volume, I prefer this version to the other one...

This was also the first time I'd heard Corelli--took a little time getting used the the lisp, but, of course, I came around. I confess I'm a little ashamed of how much I like this recording.

No beating for not owning this... but it's good stuff.

My goal in life is to collect every commercial and non-commercial recording Freni has made of Manon Lescaut. Well, not really. The two major Manon arias are worth the price of the video.

[admittedly unhelpful comments coming later]

One of my top three favorite recordings of anything ever. The principals were on and Karajan was on fire (and onscreen...).

Invest in this one (it comes up on eBay for a good price every so often); these arias aren't found on many of Freni's collected aria CDs. It also comes with decent liner notes and translations.

[admittedly unhelpful comments coming later]

[admittedly unhelpful comments coming later]

Opera d'Oro recordings can be incredibly disappointing since they're live (and old), but the quality of this CD is impressive--it's not muffled or almost inaudible like some other recordings.