"Manon Lescaut" (London/Decca): With Kiri Te Kanawa, in ravishing voice and wide awake. Toying with Manon's pomade pots and jewels, the soprano couldn't be more charming -- or less deserving of the graceless attentions of José Carreras in his wobbly worst form as the Chevalier des Grieux. The rest of the cast is utterly undistinguished, though the Bologna Teatro Communale plays energetically for Riccardo Chailly.

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