Puccini: Manon Lescaut

"Manon," wrote Puccini to his publisher Giuli Ricordi in 1889, "is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot fail to win the heart of the public." This turned out to be a truly prophetic statement since non of Puccini's other world successes were received on their first nights as rapturously as Manon Lescaut. The popularity of Puccini's great masterpiece has never waned and the highly acclaimed Gots Friedrich production at Covent Garden was hailed as an operatic milestone. Two of the world's leading stars - Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo head a strong cast which is conducted by the brilliant Italian conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli.