Royal Opera House Published on Aug 21, 2015
Jonas Kaufmann as Des Grieux sings ‘Donna non vidi mai’ from Act I of Jonathan Kent’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, The Royal Opera, 2014.

Puccini’s publisher tried to prevent him from adapting Abbé Prévost’s L’Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut – Massenet had already created a highly successful opera based on the novel. But Puccini was not to be dissuaded, claiming ‘a woman like Manon can have more than one lover’. Despite a troubled gestation (five librettists were engaged in the project), the premiere of Manon Lescaut in 1893 was Puccini’s first major triumph – a hit with critics and the public alike.

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