1893 marked the first performance of Pucini’s Manon Lescaut, a fiery passionate interpretation of a novel by Abbé Prévost about a girl gone bad already used by Jules Massenet for his popular opera. It was Puccini’s first great success making him famous. Manon Lescaut is being performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra next week and music director Giordano Bellincampi believes the piece gave the composer the chance to write something very musically modern.
Giordano Bellincampi Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
