Performance History
Puccini's publisher, Ricordi, had been against any project based on Prévost's story, because Massenet had already made it into a successful opera, Manon, in 1884. While Puccini and Ricordi may not have known it, the French composer, Daniel Auber, had also already written an opera on the same subject with the title, Manon Lescaut, in 1856.
Despite all the warnings, Puccini proceeded. "Manon is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot fail to win the hearts of the public. Why shouldn’t there be two operas about Manon? A woman like Manon can have more than one lover." He added, "Massenet feels it as a Frenchman, with powder and minuets. I shall feel it as an Italian, with a desperate passion."
The first performance of Manon Lescaut took place in the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1893. Manon Lescaut was Puccini's third opera and his first great success.
Read more about this topic: Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
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