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An all-Italian programme conducted by Enrique Mazzola encompasses the theatrical worlds of opera, film and ballet as well as purely musical tone-painting.

Puccini is one of opera’s best loved composers. With so many popular titles to his name, it is somewhat surprising how infrequently his first great success, Manon Lescaut, is performed today. What makes this even more unusual is the opera’s universal appeal.

For the first time in twenty-five years, the Opera Company of Philadelphia has mounted a production of Puccini’s first great opera, Manon Lescaut. The result was an inspired testament to thoughtful direction by Michael Cavanagh, gorgeous sets and costumes by John Pascoe, and several winning performances.

For over a century, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly has been one of the most famous and widely staged operas in the world. The secret of this undying popularity lies in the complex and contradictive nature of the main heroine. Audiences always look for new vocal and dramatic interpretations of the character and keep their expectations high for the leading soprano.