Fri 11/22 @ 7:30PM
Sun 11/24 @ 3:30PM
The Cleveland Opera says it’s been unable to find records of previous performances of Giacomo Pucccini’s 1893 opera Manon Lescaut. “It has not been performed in Cleveland for decades, if ever. We could not find records of this opera performed in Cleveland, so please contact us if you have any information on the history of Manon Lescaut in Cleveland.”
If it’s true, then the company’s upcoming performances of the work will be a Cleveland debut of the opera that was Puccini’s first “hit,” before he went on to write La Boheme and Madama Butterfly. The two performances will take place in the elegant Crystal Ballroom of the Tudor Arms Hotel in University Circle, where free treats will be proferred to accompany wine and drinks purchased at the Tudor Arms bar.
A 1731 novel, which tells the story of a beautiful young woman who avoids going to a convent by becoming the lover of an older man, while pining for a young student, provided the grist for the libretto, which was created by five librettists, as well as the composer and his publisher. Maybe that accounts for the confusing geography of Act IV, in which Manon, who has been deported from France to North America, and her true love, des Grieux, who followed her, are wandering in the desert trying to escape to a British settlement (it’s 1731) — outside New Orleans. The proximity of a desert to their region would certainly come as a shock to residents of that city today!
The Cleveland Opera company will be joined by the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra conducted by Maestro John Thomas Dodson, as they perform the work stage directed by company co-founder Dorota Sobieska, who also sings the title role. The cast also features tenor Mikhail Urusov as des Grieux; baritone Jonathan Stinson as Manon’s brother, and basso brilliante Francisco Prado as her elderly lover, along with a full of chorus.
Tickets are $55 for reserved seating, $25 for general admission, $10 for students.
Go to theclevelandopera.org/manon-lescaut or call 216 816 1411. Tickets may also be purchased at the door with cash or check.
Cleveland, OH 44106