It's set in early 18th Century France—and Louisiana. Puccini felt that he could bring true Italian passion to the tale, and indeed he did. Though it’s an early work, it contains much of the rich, ...

Ever since its first production in 1974, Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon has been a staple of modern ballet. This revival shows why. With Francesca Hayward’s stunning reprisal as the titular character and ...

The Washington National Opera’s brilliant revival of “Manon Lescaut” demonstrates that as early as 1893, when Giacomo Puccini was writing this, his first popular work, he knew well how to use music to ...

Kristine Opolais in Act 2 of ‘Manon Lescaut’ (all photos by Ken Howard, courtesy Metropolitan Opera) (click to enlarge) The Met’s new production of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, directed by Richard Eyre, ...

First impressions are important, but they shouldn't lead to snap judgment. It is usually wiser to stop and think, but in the world of opera – especially Puccini – lovers tend to fall in love at first ...

Soprano Patricia Racette is the greatest advertisement for Puccini’s heroines. His operas dominate her resume, and no wonder. She owns a voice that gravitates to his expansive Italian lines and ...

However, it has be said that Jude Christian’s production seriously misfires. Often crass and crude, strewn with farcical, pointless bits of business and dressed in a repulsive palette of ...

First performed in 1974 and celebrating its 40th anniversary, this production is the second in this year’s season following The Royal Ballet’s. In Regency Paris, bourgeois society gorges itself on ...

In the mood for 'MANON LESCAUT Puccini – Poznań Opera' right from your couch? Pinpointing where to stream, rent, buy, or watch where to stream or rent the -helmed movie can be confusing so we at ...

If Puccini knew one thing, it’s that nobody got rich by underestimating the public appetite for sex and seediness. In order to make his mark on the operatic world he took the bold decision to ...

On the minus side, any contemporary rendering of a slight-ish melodrama adapted from Abbé Prévost’s 1731 novel goes against the grain of the depicted attempts to send our pleasure-loving young heroine ...