New Production of Puccini's Romance MANON LESCAUT to Open This Month at the Met

The Met's new production of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT opens February 12 with Kristine Opolais as the seductive, tragic heroine and Roberto Alagna in a role debut as her ardent lover, the Chevalier des Grieux.

The staging is conducted by Fabio Luisi, the Met's Principal Conductor, and directed by Sir Richard Eyre, whose past Met productions include acclaimed stagings of Carmen, Werther, and Le Nozze di Figaro. MANON LESCAUT will also star Massimo Cavalletti as Manon's cousin, Lescaut, and Brindley Sherratt as Geronte, the wealthy general who takes Manon as his mistress. The production features sets by Rob Howell, costumes by Fotini Dimou, lighting design by Peter Mumford, and choreography by Sara Erde.

While the Met planned this production to feature Opolais's interpretation of the title role, which she has sung to acclaim at the Bavarian State Opera and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Roberto Alagna, a star at the Met for 20 years, was a late addition to the cast. When Jonas Kaufmann withdrew from the production due to illness while rehearsals were underway, Alagna-at the Met starring in Pagliacci-agreed to undertake the challenge of learning the new staging and preparing a role he has never before sung onstage in the weeks leading up to the premiere.

The Saturday, March 5 matinee performance of MANON LESCAUT will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world.

For prices and ticket information, call (212) 362-6000 or visit www.metopera.org. Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling (212) 341-5410 or visiting www.metopera.org/groups.

About the Cast, Conductor:

Kristine Opolais has sung the role of MANON LESCAUT to great acclaim with the Bavarian State Opera last season and at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in 2014. As one of the leading Puccini sopranos at the Met, last season, she sang Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly and filled in for a sick colleague as a last minute replacement for the HD performance and live radio broadcast as Mimì in La Bohème with the company in 2014. The season prior, she made her Met debut as Magda in Puccini's La Rondine. Following her performances as MANON LESCAUT this season, she will reprise the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at the Met and then sing Rachel in Halévy's La Juive and Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele at the Bavarian State Opera.

Roberto Alagna sings his first-ever performances of des Grieux at the Met. The French tenor previously learned the role of des Grieux for a 2006 series of performances that were canceled, and now, he will make his role debut singing the part onstage for the first time. Since his Met debut in 1996 as Rodolfo in La Boheme, he has sung over 100 performances of twelve different roles with the company including Don José in Bizet's Carmen, Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca, Radamès in Verdi's Aida, and the title characters in Gounod's Faust and Massenet's Werther. Later this season, Alagna will star opposite Opolais in the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Met, in addition to Le Juif Eléazar in La Juive at the Bavarian State Opera.

Massimo Cavalletti adds the role of Lescaut to his Met repertory after previously singing the role at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He made his Met debut in 2010 as Schaunard in La Bohème followed by performances as Marcello in La Bohème and then Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen. His other recent performances include Ford in Verdi's Falstaff with the New National Theatre Tokyo and the Dutch National Opera and Belcore in Donizetti's L'Elisir d' Amore, Escamillo in Carmen, Marcello in La Bohème, and Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at La Scala. Later this season, he can be seen as Paolo Albiani in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at La Scala.

Brindley Sherratt makes his role debut as Geronte. Last season, he made his Met debut as Trulove in the rarely staged production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. Credits with other companies include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte at the Vienna State Opera, Creon in Charpentier's Médée, and Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra at the English National Opera; Claggart in Britten's Billy Budd at the Glyndebourne Festival; and Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto and the Blind Ballad Singer in Britten's Gloriana at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He will star as Arkel in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Zurich Opera later this season.

Fabio Luisi has led over 185 performances of 28 operas in addition to five concerts with the MET Orchestra since his company debut conducting Verdi's Don Carlo in 2005. As Met Principal Conductor, some of his most notable performances include Verdi's Macbeth; Wagner's Ring cycle; Richard Strauss's rarely heard Die Ägyptische Helena; Berlioz's epic Les Troyens; and new productions last season of Lehár's The Merry Widow and double bill of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. He will also conduct performances of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci through February in addition to a revival of Le Nozze di Figaro later this season at the Met.

About the Director, Creative Team:

Sir Richard Eyre returns to the Met after staging last season's new opening night production of Le Nozze di Figaro. He made his Met debut staging Carmen during the 2009-10 season, in addition to helming the new production of Werther during the 2013-14 season. Along with directing opera for the Met, he has also staged Verdi's La Traviata at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. As a recipient of five Olivier Awards for directing productions of Guys and Dolls, King Lear, and The Invention of Love, he has also directed and produced for film and television, most notably directing the Oscar nominated movies Iris starring Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, and Jim Broadbent, and Notes on a Scandal starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett.

Rob Howell has previously worked with Eyre making his debut designing sets and costumes for Carmen, as well as the most recent productions of Werther and Le Nozze di Figaro. He has designed both scenery and costumes for several Broadway and West End shows including Ghost The Musical, Private Lives, and Richard III. He won a Tony for his set designs of Matilda The Musical and was nominated for his costumes for the production.

Fotini Dimou makes her Met debut designing costumes for MANON LESCAUT. Her work with other opera companies includes designing sets for Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the English National Opera and costumes for Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at La Scala. Her work spans from designing sets and costumes for the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon and London Barbican, Royal Court, London; National Theatre, London; and English National Ballet; to designing costumes for TV dramas, commercials, and feature films.

Peter Mumford has served as the lighting designer on a number of productions at the Met, including his company debut designing for Puccini's Madama Butterfly during the 2006-07 season, as well as Britten's Peter Grimes, Carmen, Faust, and Werther. He has been the lighting designer for various opera houses around the world, including the English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Los Angeles Opera, Palermo Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, and SBC, London. As an Olivier winner, he has choreographed for ballet companies in London and for television in addition to designing lighting for the stage.

Sara Erde originally began her career at the Met as a solo and corps dancer with the company in 1996. During the 2009-10 season, she was the movement coach for Carmen, and then for Verdi's Don Carlo. Erde then became the assistant stage director for Madama Butterfly, Berlioz's Les Troyens, and Rossini's La Donna del Lago. In addition to her work as an assistant stage director, she also choreographed Werther and Le Nozze di Figaro with Sir Richard Eyre. With other opera companies, she choreographed Madama Butterfly for the Atlanta Opera, as well as choreographed Carmen and assistant directed Verdi's La Forza del Destino at the Washington National Opera.

MANON LESCAUT Fun Facts:

Based on Abbé Prévost's novel L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de MANON LESCAUT, Puccini's opera MANON LESCAUT, not to be confused with Massenet's opera based on the same novel, made its world premiere in 1893 at the Teatro Regio di Torino. The libretto credits five librettists in addition to Puccini, including Luigi Lillica and Giuseppe Giacosa who eventually contributed to Puccini's most famous operas: La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, and Tosca. MANON LESCAUT was Puccini's first major success, and following the opening, George Bernard Shaw named Puccini "the successor to Verdi."

MANON LESCAUT has been performed 215 times by the Met. Its first Met performance was in the presence of the composer in 1907 starring Lina Cavalieri as Manon, Enrico Caruso as des Grieux, and Antonio Scotti as Lescaut. Frances Alda sang Manon a record 29 times with the company, Enrico Caruso sang Des Grieux a record 37 performances with the Met, and Giuseppe De Luca sang the role of Lescaut a record 46 performances with the company.

MANON LESCAUT Live in HD and Radio Broadcasts:

The March 5 matinee performance of MANON LESCAUT will be transmitted live around the world at 12:55 p.m. ET hosted by Sondra Radvanovsky. The transmission will be seen in more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world. The February 24 performance of MANON LESCAUT will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performance on March 1 and 5. The February 12 performance will also be streamed on the Met's web site, www.metopera.org.

A performance on March 5 will be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For more information on MANON LESCAUT, including casting by date, click here.

Pictured: Kristine Opolais in the title role of Puccini's "MANON LESCAUT". Photo by Kristian Schuller/ Metropolitan Opera.

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