Manon at Opera Idaho

Opera Idaho favorite Cecilia Violetta Lpez stars in the title role of Jules Massenets romantic opera, one of the great tragic tales in literature and music. Lpez is the perfect diva to bring to life Manons story a story about an innocent country girl who became a celebrated courtesan and ends up a destitute prisoner as she returns to Opera Idaho for the fifth time in recent years (Maria in West Side Story in Concert, 2018; Adina in Lelisir damore, 2017; Violetta in La traviata, 2016; and, Gilda in Rigoletto, 2014). In the 2018/19 season Cecilia made debuts at Minnesota Opera and Colorado Opera, both as Violetta, and Opera Omaha (Marguerite in Faust), and she returned to Virginia Opera as Adina. In 2017 Cecilia was awarded an Idaho State Concurrent Resolution honoring her life as an Idahoan and her work in the field of opera, and last fall she sang at the re-opening of the Idaho State Museum.The opera is the second Massenet opera to be staged at Opera Idaho, following a well-received Werther (2017). Manon features Opera Idaho debuts by conductor Edwin Outwater and director John de los Santos. Two other cast members return from 2017s Lelisir damore: tenor Thomas Glenn as Des Grieux and baritone Jason Detwiler as Lescaut.