Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut enjoys the admiration of the men who eat after her. Her brother pursues his father's plan to protect her from the men in a monastery. The wealthy Geronte wants to lure her into his world, but she gives her love to the young Des Grieux and eludes her brother's grasp. Shortly after, however, she follows Geronte's material seductions and becomes dependent on him. However, her love for Des Grieux tempts her to want to leave her surroundings again.

With his setting of Abbé Prévost's novel, which Jules Massenet had already brought to the opera stage in 1884, Giacomo Puccini's fame as one of the most successful opera composers to date began in Turin in 1893. With bright timbres and subtle melodies, Puccini makes the emotional worlds of his characters truly appear. Bertrand de Billy returns to the Staatsoper to conduct. In his production, Johannes Erath is dedicated to the longings and dreams of the protagonist and the men surrounding her.