“Manon Lescaut” by Giacomo Puccini

Premiere / date of written: 1 February 1893

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.

Libretti

#	Language	Authors
1	Italian	Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Domenico Oliva, Luigi Illica, Giacomo Puccini
2	German
3	English
4	French

original libretto
line-by-line of the original libretto

Images

Notable videos

Audio recordings

Year	Cast	Conductor, Opera chorus and orchestra	Label, Comment	Buy
1954	Manon Lescaut — Licia Albanese, Des Grieux — Jussi Björling, Lescaut — Robert Merrill, Geronte — Franco Calabrese, Edmondo — Mario Carlin, Una voce sola — Anna Maria Rota, L'oste — Plinio Clabassi, Il maestro di ballo — Mario Carlin, Un sergente degli arcieri — Franco Calabrese, Lampionaio — Mario Carlin, Un comandante di Marina — Plinio Clabassi	Jonel Perlea Rome Opera orchestra and chorus	CD: RCA Victor Cat: 60573-2-RG
1957	Manon Lescaut — Maria Callas, Des Grieux — Giuseppe di Stefano, Lescaut — Giulio Fioravanti, Geronte — Franco Calabrese, Edmondo — Dino Formichini, Una voce sola — Fiorenza Cossotto, L'oste — Carlo Forti, Il maestro di ballo — Vito Tatone, Un sergente degli arcieri — Giuseppe Morresi, Lampionaio — Franco Ricciardi, Un comandante di Marina — Franco Ventriglia	Tullio Serafin La Scala Orchestra and Chorus	CD: EMI Cat: CDS5 56301 2 (Mono)
1984	Manon Lescaut — Mirella Freni, Des Grieux — Plácido Domingo, Lescaut — Renato Bruson, Geronte — Kurt Rydl, Edmondo — Robert Gambill, Una voce sola — Brigitte Fassbaender, L'oste — George Macpherson, Il maestro di ballo — John Fryatt, Un sergente degli arcieri — Handel Thomas, Lampionaio — Mark Curtis, Un comandante di Marina — John Tomlinson	Giuseppe Sinopoli Philharmonia Orchestra Royal Opera House Chorus	CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 413 893-2 2
1987	Manon Lescaut — Kiri Te Kanawa, Des Grieux — José Carreras, Lescaut — Paolo Coni, Geronte — Italo Tajo, Edmondo — William Matteuzzi, Una voce sola — Margarita Zimmermann, L'oste — Ledo Freschi, Il maestro di ballo — Piero De Palma, Un sergente degli arcieri — Giorgio Tadeo, Lampionaio — Carlo Gaifa, Un comandante di Marina — Natale de Carolis	Riccardo Chailly Orchestra and chorus Teatro Comunale di Bologna	CD: Decca Cat: 421 426-2
1993	Manon Lescaut — Mirella Freni, Des Grieux — Luciano Pavarotti, Lescaut — Dwayne Croft, Geronte — Giuseppe Taddei, Edmondo — Ramón Vargas, Una voce sola — Cecilia Bartoli, L'oste — Federico Davià, Il maestro di ballo — Anthony Laciura, Un sergente degli arcieri — James Courtney, Lampionaio — Paul Groves, Un comandante di Marina — Federico Davià	James Levine Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus	CD: Decca Cat: 440 200-2
2014	Manon Lescaut — Ana María Martínez, Des Grieux — Andrea Bocelli, Lescaut — Javier Arrey, Geronte — Maurizio Muraro, Edmondo — Matthew Peña, Una voce sola — Mariam Battistelli, L'oste — Germán Olvera, Il maestro di ballo — David Astorga, Un sergente degli arcieri — Germán Olvera, Lampionaio — Valentino Buzza, Un comandante di Marina — Francesco Salvadori	Plácido Domingo Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Coro de la Generalitat Valenciana	CD: Decca Cat: 478 7490

Books

Year	Title	Description	Buy
2025	Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini: Side-by-side Italian/English libretto	A complete Italian libretto of Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut with side-by-side English translation, as presented on DM's opera site. This book, along with others from the series, is designed to help opera lovers follow and understand the lyrics.

Video recordings

Year	Cast	Conductor, Opera chorus and orchestra, Director	Label, Comment	Buy
1984	Manon Lescaut — Kiri Te Kanawa, Des Grieux — Plácido Domingo, Lescaut — Thomas Allen Forbes Robinson, Robin Leggate	Giuseppe Sinopoli Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus Brian Large	DVD: Kultur Video Cat: 5046671742 Recording of a performance at Covent Garden, 17 May

External links

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Recordings of Manon Lescaut on operadis-opera-discography.org
• Sheet Music — www.sheetmusicplus.com