THERE are two Manons in the opera world, the more famous, perhaps, composed in Italian by Puccini, which Opera North plans to stage next season.

But here we have the earlier French version, also taken from the mid-18th century novel by the Abbe Prevost and given the full-blooded, melodramatic treatment by Jules Massenet.

And our Leeds-based regional opera company, celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, were well up to the mark at last night's performance with a romantic production that had a lavish set and sumptuous costumes.

Swedish soprano Malin Bystrom was a powerfully-sung Manon, the beautiful young woman whose coquettishness and desire for wealth leads her astray from her true love, the Chevalier des Grieux.

Australian tenor Julian Gavin was a sensitive des Grieux, whose agonies for Manon lifted him to nobility as she lay dying in his arms at the end of the opera.

They were well-supported by the character actors: William Dazeley as the louche cousin Lescaut, who should have kept a better eye on Manon, Jonathan Best as des Grieux's sympathetic father, and Paul Wade as the fop Guillot, who brings about Manon's downfall.

On a scale of 1 to 3, Manon's wasting death is a little behind that of Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme, and Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, but it should still bring out the hanky for anyone with a heart.

Tonight the company perform La Traviata and, on Saturday, Dvorak's Rusalka, based on the Little Mermaid fairy tale -- more fallen women to see at The Lowry.

Massenet: Manon, Opera North, The Lowry