MANON LESCAUT Puccini – Poznań Opera

Destined for the convent, the young Manon falls head over heels in love with a handsome stranger and decides to flee with him. Yet aspiring to a life of wealth and luxury, she ends up throwing herself into the arms of a rich nobleman. Can she forget her true love? Puccini’s adaptation of the novel by Abbé Prévost had a complicated gestation. An alarmingly long list of librettists succeed each other in trying to satisfy the composer’s demands in terms of dramatic structure and fine verbal detail. Was Puccini struggling perhaps to make his opera sufficiently different from Massenet’s on the same subject? Puccini probably never reached a ‘definitive’ form of this opera but it was his first international success and arguably the first in which the composer found his voice as a musical dramatist. Opera Poznań has entrusted their new production - streamed live on the opening night - to a former winner of the European Opera Directing Prize, Gerard Jones, and conductor Marco Guidarini. Full performance streamed LIVE on OperaVision on 8 June 2024 at 19:00 CET and available until 8 December 2024 at 12:00 CET: CAST Manon Iwona Sobotka Des Grieux Dominik Sutowicz Lescaut Jaromir Trafankowski Geronte de Ravoir Rafał Korpik Edmond Piotr Kalina Innkeeper and captain Michał Korzeniowski Ballet master Bartłomiej Szczeszek Singer Laura Wąsek Sergeant Tomasz Mazur Lamplighter Marek Szymański Orchestra Poznań Opera Orchestra Chorus Poznań Opera Chorus Music Giacomo Puccini Text Luigi Illica Marco Praga Domenico Oliva Conductor Marco Guidarini Director Gerard Jones Scenography Blanca Añón Light Marc Gonzalo Costume Donna Raphael Chorus Master Mariusz Otto OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme. Watch live streams as the performances themselves unfold in the opera house. Enjoy a variety of shows - including opera, operetta, musical theatre, dance, ballet and concerts. Opera connaisseur or curious newcomer, there is something for everyone on OperaVision. @operavision