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National Theatre Prague

Stage director

Stage director (+1)

Sláva Daubnerová

Set designer

Juraj Kuchárek

Costume designer

Tereza Kopecká

Lighting designer

Lighting designer (+2)

Daniel Tesař

Dramaturge

Jitka Slavíková

Orchestra

Prague National Opera Orchestra

Choreographer

Choreographer (+2)

Jan Adam

Státní Opera Praha (The State Opera)

Soprano (+1)

Ghiulnara Raileanu

Manon Lescaut

Petra Šimková Alvarez

Baritone (+3)

Lukáš Bařák

Lescaut

Csaba Kotlár

Tenor

Peter Berger

The knight René Des Grieux

Tenor (+1)

Milen Bozhkov

Bass (+3)

Jiří Sulženko

Geronte de Revoir

Bass-baritone (+3)

František Zahradníček

Tenor (+2)

Martin Šrejma

Edmond

Tenor (+4)

Daniel Matoušek

Ivo Hrachovec

Sergeant of the Archers

Roman Vocel

An innkeeper

Josef Moravec

A lamplighter

Vít Šantora

The dance master

Mezzo-soprano (+4)

Michaela Zajmi

A singer

Mezzo-soprano (+3)

Kateřina Jalovcová

Chorus

State Opera Chorus Prague

Ballet

National Theatre Narodni Opera Ballet

Chorusmaster

Adolf Melichar

Répétiteur

Pianist (+3)

Silvia Magagni

Assistant Conductor

Conductor (+1)

Maria Fuller

Chorusmaster (+1)

Anna Novotná-Pešková

Zuzana Kadlčíková

Assistant Stage Director

Marie Anna Valíčková

Conductor

Conductor (+3)

Simone Di Felice

Bass (+2)

Oleg Korotkov

The naval captain

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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