Manon Lescaut Is the Dec. 3, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Dec. 3, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Manon Lescaut, a four-act tragic opera by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini.

Puccini's Manon Lescaut airs as the Dec. 3, 2016, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Anna Netrebko @AnnaNetrebko, via Twitter Nov. 10, 2016

Manon Lescaut, a four-act tragic opera about doomed lovers by Italian operatist Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924), is the Dec. 3, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Five librettists collaborated on the original Italian libretto: Giuseppe Giacosa (Oct. 21, 1847-Sept. 1, 1906); Luigi Illica (May 9, 1857-Dec. 16, 1919); Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919); Domenico Oliva (June 1, 1860-April 28, 1917); Marco Praga (June 20, 1862-Jan. 31, 1929). The literary source is L’Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, a novel published in 1731 by French novelist Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles (April 1, 1697-Dec. 23, 1763), known as Abbé Prévost. The novel appeared as the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et Aventures d’un Homme de Qualité (“Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality”).

The premiere took place Feb. 1, 1893. The venue was Teatro Regio (“Royal Theatre”), located at Piazza Castello in the historic center of Torino (Turin), Piedmont, northwestern Italy. Manon Lescaut was the first of two Puccini operas to premiere at Teatro Regio. Exactly three years later, Teatro Regio hosted its second premiere of a Puccini opera, La Bohème.

The composer and his librettists place Manon Lescaut in the second half of the 18th century. The plot unfolds in Amiens, Paris and LeHavre in France and ends in the New World, outside of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 production fast forwards the time to the 1940s. The setting is German-occupied France.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Manon Lescaut begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (5:30 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 3 hours 7 minutes. The performance, sung in the original Italian, comprises three acts and two intermissions.

Act I is timed at 36 minutes. A 33-minute intermission follows Act I.

Act II is timed at 41 minutes. A 26-minute intermission follows Act II.

Act III is timed at 51 minutes. The Saturday matinee broadcast performance ends with Act III’s final notes.

Marco Armiliato conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Manon Lescaut. His birthplace is Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. The Italian conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1993 production of Puccini’s La Bohème. This season Marco Armiliato reprises his debut role as conductor of the Met’s 2016-2017 production of La Bohème. He also occupies the conductor’s podium this season for Aida by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) and Cyrano de Bergerac by Italian composer and pianist Franco Alfano (March 8, 1875-Oct. 27, 1954).

Anna Netrebko appears in the title role as the young beauty who attracts both love and luxury and who learns too late the value of true love. She was born in Krasnodar, southwestern Russia. The Russian operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002 as Natasha Rostova in War and Peace by Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (April 23, 1891-March 5, 1953). Anna Netrebko also appears this season as Tatiana Larin in Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Anna Netrebko shares the role of Manon Lescaut this season with Kristine Opolais. Anna Netrebko appears in most of the opera’s November performances and in the January Saturday matinee broadcast.

Kristine Opolais appears in the Nov. 21 performances and in the Dec. 7 and Dec. 10 performances.Her birthplace is Riga, Latvia. The Latvian operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2013 as Magda in Puccini’s Rondine. Kristine Opolais also appears this season as Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème and in the title role of Rusalka by Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904).

Marcelo Álvarez appears as Chevalier Renato des Grieux, who loves Manon Lescaut despite her faults. He was born in Córdoba, central Argentina. The Argentian lyric tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. Marcelo Álvarez appears this season as Don José in Carmen by Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875).

Brindley Sherratt appears as Geronte di Ravoir, an elderly treasurer-general whose infatuation for Manon turns to revenge when she finally chooses des Grieux over him. His birthplace is Lancashire, North West England. The Lancastrian bass debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2015 as Trulove in The Rake’s Progress by Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (June 17, 1882-April 6, 1971).

Christopher Maltman appears as Manon’s brother, whose fascination with a card game allows Manon to escape her intended destination to a convent and whose indiscreet revelation of Manon’s weakness for luxury enables Geronte di Ravoir to ensnare Manon. He was born in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, eastern England. The British operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 as Harlequin in Ariadne aux Naxos by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949). Christopher Maltman also appears this season as Papageno in The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Operabase, an online database, places Giacomo Puccini at number 3 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Manon Lescaut places at 58 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Manon Lescaut holds place 40, with 224 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Jan. 18, 1907, to last performance, March 11, 2016. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Manon Lescaut as the Dec. 3, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the elderly Geronte di Revoir’s predatory ensnarement of Manon by her weakness, Chevalier des Grieux’s true love for Manon despite her overwhelming flaws, and Manon’s tragic discovery of the value of true love too late.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's performances of Puccini's Manon Lescaut mark the first revival of Richard Eyre's staging, which debuted Feb. 12, 2016, at Met Opera as a new production, with sets by Rob Howell and costumes by Fotini Dimou: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Nov. 25, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Puccini's Manon Lescaut airs as the Dec. 3, 2016, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Anna Netrebko @AnnaNetrebko, via Twitter Nov. 10, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/AnnaNetrebko/status/796820739563421696

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's performances of Puccini's Manon Lescaut mark the first revival of Richard Eyre's staging, which debuted Feb. 12, 2016, at Met Opera as a new production, with sets by Rob Howell and costumes by Fotini Dimou: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Nov. 25, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10157908681020533/

For further information:

Anna Netrebko @AnnaNetrebko. "Ready for Manon Lescaut @MetOpera." Twitter. Nov. 10, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AnnaNetrebko/status/796820739563421696

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "On stage tonight: Puccini's Manon Lescaut starring Anna Netrebko and Marcelo Alvarez. Marco Armiliato, the Conductor is on the podium. Just five performances remain! bit.ly/2ej8v7H Photo by Ken Howard/Met Opera." Facebook. Nov. 25, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10157908681020533/

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

Prévost, Abbé. Manon Lescaut. Illustrations de Conconi, Marold et Rossi. Paris, France: E. Dentu, MDCCCXCII (1892).
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/manonlescautparl00pruoft