MANON LESCAUT Opens at Washington National Opera Tonight

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2012-2013 season with Puccini's Manon Lescaut, tonight, March 2 to 23 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. American soprano Patricia Racette makes her role debut as the title character, and Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato sings the role of Chevalier des Grieux.

This WNO production, which premiered in 2007, is directed by John Pascoe and conducted by WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin.

Intensely romantic and dramatically compelling, Manon Lescaut was Puccini's first popular work; it established his career as a composer and laid the foundation for his future successes with La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. In the character of Manon, Puccini introduces the first of his famous tragic heroines. Sentenced by her parents to a life in the convent, Manon escapes to Paris with her young lover, the dashing but poor Chevalier des Grieux. Lured away by the glamorous life offered by an elderly patron, Manon's true feelings for her first love are rekindled when des Grieux suddenly reappears. But her conflicting desire for love and luxury sends Manon on a journey of despair to a distant land, with tragic consequences.