MANON LESCAUT

Co-production of the Opera &Theatre Madlenianum and the National Theatre in Belgrade

Conductor: Stefano Romani (Italy)
Director: Pier Francesco Maestrini (Italy)

Soloists, choir and orchestra of the National Theatre in Belgrade

Manon is the most beautiful woman in the operatic art!

These are the words of a director Pier Francesco Maestrini who is staging the new opera production, the opera Manon Lescaut of Giacomo Puccini, with the premiere performance on 26 February at the National Theatre in Belgrade and 29 February at the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum, continuing thus the successful cooperation of our two theatres.

Although there are exceptional modern tendencies in operatic creation, Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) is even today, together with Verdi, the sovereign lord of opera stages. Puccini began a genre revolution, connecting music and dramaturgy in a way that only drama and, later, the film industry could parry. His operatic style represents more or less harmonious blend of brutality and sentimentality. He was born in Lucca, a small town in Tuscany and he graduated from the Conservatory in Milan. With a great talent for opera theatre, Puccini devoted himself solely to operatic composition. After his first attempts (Le villi/ The Willis 1884, Edgar 1889) and his first major successes (Manon Lescaut 1893), he gained worldwide fame with his most significant and popular works: La Bohème (1898), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904). They are followed by The Girl of the Golden West (1912), La Rondine/ The Swallow (1917), The Triptych (The Cloak, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi in 1918) and finally his swan song, Turandot (performed in 1926). One of Puccini's successes lies in the happily chosen librettos. Being the man with a confident theatrical instinct, Puccini could feel the stage, was looking for exciting dramatic conflicts, cherishing a cult of great gestures and desperate cries which resulted from intense passions.

This is how Puccini formulated the secret of every theatrical success: "There are three laws when it comes to theatre: to arouse interest, to surprise and touch." Therefore, it is not surprising that his works are still popular today and Manon Lescaut captures with its original musical inspiration, unique in his complete creation, which is the reason it even today belongs to the most beautiful works of operatic literature.

Manon Lescaut is one of the most complex roles of operatic literature. Her beauty, a mixture of innate elegance and natural naivety, along with her greed and, particularly, her brother's greed are the framework of the plot.

The Team of Authors and Casta

Libretto: Domenico Oliva, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Opera in Four Acts

Conductor: Stefano Romani (Italy) / Djordje Pavlovic

Director: Pier Francesco Maestrini (Italy)

Costume Designer: Luca Dall’Alpi (Italy)

Set Designer: Alfredo Troisi (Italy)

CHARACTERS:

Manon Lescaut: Jasmina Trumbetas Petrovic, Sanja Kerkez, Ana Rupcic

Lescaut, her brother, a sergeant in the King's guard: Nebojsa Babic, Vuk Zekic, Vladimir Andric

Chevalier Des Grieux: Nikola Kitanovski, Janko Sinadinovic

Geronte di Ravoir, Treasurer General: Dragoljub Bajic, Mihailo Sljivic, Aleksandar Stamatovic

Innkeeper: Milan Obradovic, Vuk Radonjic

Edmondo, a student: Darko Djordjevic, Sinisa Radin, Milan Panic

Musician: Natasa Rasic, Ivana Zivadinovic

Dance Master: Sinisa Radin, Milan Panic

Lamplighter: Sinisa Radin, Mihailo Otasevic

Sergeant of the Royal Archers: Mihailo Sljivic, Milan Obradovic

Naval Captain: Milan Obradovic, Mihailo Sljivic

Hairdresser: Luka Predja

Choir and Orchestra of the National Theatre in Belgrade 

Assistant to Director: Ivana Dragutinovic Maricic
Assistant Director: Ana Grigorovic
Concert Master: Edit Makedonska/ Vesna Janssens
Corepetitors: Srdjan Jarakovic, Nevena Zivkovic, Gleb Gorbunov
Chorus Master: Djordje Stankovic
Stage Manager: Branislava Pljaskic/ Ana Milicevic
Prompters: Silvija Pec/ Kristina Jocic
Organizer: Vukasin Tomic
Audio Realization: Dusan Arsikin
Lighting Realization: Vladimir Krunic
Video Realization: Zvonko Jelusic
Surtitle Translation: Gavrilo Rabrenovic
Surtitle Realization: Dragan Stevovic
Stage Master: Milan Ciric
Make-up and Hairstyle: Mirjana Rakic
Wardrobe: Tanja Vuksanovic and Milorad Vukotic

Décor and Costumes created in the workshops of the National Theatre in Belgrade

Run time: 3 hours with two intermissions

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