Admin

National Theatre Prague

Regisseur

Regisseur (+1)

Sláva Daubnerová

Set designer

Juraj Kuchárek

Kostuum ontwerper

Tereza Kopecká

Licht ontwerper

Licht ontwerper (+2)

Daniel Tesař

Dramaturg

Jitka Slavíková

Orchestra

Het Nationale Theater

Choreograaf

Choreograaf (+2)

Jan Adam

Státní Opera Praha (The State Opera)

Sopraan (+1)

Ghiulnara Raileanu

Manon Lescaut

Petra Šimková Alvarez

Bariton (+3)

Lukáš Bařák

Lescaut

Csaba Kotlár

Tenor

Peter Berger

Renato des Grieux

Tenor (+1)

Milen Bozhkov

Bas (+3)

Jiří Sulženko

Geronte de Ravoir

Bas-bariton (+3)

František Zahradníček

Tenor (+2)

Martin Šrejma

Edmondo

Tenor (+4)

Daniel Matoušek

Ivo Hrachovec

Een sergeant van de boogschutters

Roman Vocel

De waard

Josef Moravec

Een lantaarnopsteker

Vít Šantora

De balletleraar

Mezzosopraan (+4)

Michaela Zajmi

Een muzikant

Mezzosopraan (+3)

Kateřina Jalovcová

Chorus

State Opera Chorus

Ballet

National Theatre Narodni Opera Ballet

Koor meester

Adolf Melichar

Répétiteur

Pianist (+3)

Silvia Magagni

Assistent-dirigent

Dirigent (+1)

Maria Fuller

Koor meester (+1)

Anna Novotná-Pešková

Zuzana Kadlčíková

Assistent Toneelregisseur

Marie Anna Valíčková

Dirigent

Dirigent (+3)

Simone Di Felice

Bas (+2)

Oleg Korotkov

De commandant van de Marine

A life with the wealthy Geronte would offer the pretty Manon luxury, yet it would be devoid of passion. And great passion is what Manon enjoys with the poverty-stricken Chevalier Renato des Grieux. She must make a choice. Failing to do so is fateful for her …

The 1893 opera Manon Lescaut was Giacomo Puccini’s first triumph. Abounding in splendid melodies, the music renders intense emotions, from fervid love in the duet between Des Grieux and Manon in Act 2 to crushing despair of the lonesome Manon in the aria “Sola, perduta, abbandonata”.

The libretto is based on Abbé Prévost’s novel Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut, issued in 1731 in Paris. Puccini was mesmerised by the book, yet his publisher, Ricordi, tried to dissuade him from setting it, pointing out that the story had already been adapted as an opera, Jules Massenet’s wildly popular Manon. Puccini, however, stuck to his guns, reasoning that “a woman like Manon can have more than one lover”.

Despite its difficult gestation (the text was patched together by five librettists), he created an opera whose premiere, on 1 February 1893 in Turin, enraptured the audience and critics alike. Puccini’s Manon Lescaut received its first performance in Bohemia on 24 April 1894 at the National Theatre in Prague. The Neues deutsches Theater (today’s State Opera) followed suit on 1 November 1923, with the production conducted by Alexander Zemlinsky, who at the time served as director of its opera company.

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