Manon Lescaut

Love knows no bounds, guilt falls into oblivion, but my love will not die... The beautiful Manon is no stranger to any weakness - she wanted the love of the young knight Des Grieux and a life of luxury and wealth that only the old banker Géront can provide... But everything has its price and not even love can save everything. “Manon is a heroine I believe in, and that's why you can't help but win the hearts of the audience. Why couldn't there be two operas about Manon? A woman like Manon can have more than one lover. Massenet feels her like a Frenchman, with powder and minuets. I will feel it like an Italian, with a desperate passion," declared Puccini determinedly, when his publisher tried to talk him out of composing an opera on a theme that had already been set to music. And he did well, because Manon Lescaut has been one of his great successes since its premiere in Turin in 1893. He kept what he promised and offered his audience passion, despair and hope that overcomes even the tragic end of the main characters. After all, love never dies.