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, 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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