Puccinis Manon Lescauta Short Guide To A Great Opera

Ricordi, the Milanese publisher, promoted Puccini's Manon Lescaut, premièred in Turin in February, 1893, shortly after Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Composed in the realistic, 'verismo' style, it was Puccini's first successful opera. The 18th century French novelist Prevost's lewd, witty and even pornographic story includes elopement, sex, gambling, murder, and death. Long considered unsuitable reading, it was comparable to Fielding's Tom Jones, Richardson's Pamela, and Cleland's Fanny Hill. Massenet, with Manon, had recently made his fortune with it The convent girl elopes from the.