PUCCINI – MANON LESCAUT
Gianandrea Noseda – Vittorio Borrelli – Teatro Regio Torino

“Vox Imago” focuses on the figure of Giacomo Puccini and particularly on Manon Lescaut, his first major success. The opera was first performed at the Teatro Regio in Turin on February 1, 1893, just a few days earlier than the debut of another fin de siècle masterpiece, Verdi’s Falstaff, which had its premiere on the 9th of the same month at La Scala. Giulio Ricordi, who published both composers, had a clear communication strategy, promoting the works as the grand old man of Italian opera, presenting his last great work, passing the baton to the promising young talent who would renew its splendour.

Puccini’s third opera, Manon, followed Le Villi and Edgar, works related to the Scapigliatura movement, and marked a decisive turning point. Puccini was opening up to European influences, presenting himself as a modern international theatrical composer. At the same time, he did not forget Italian music’s crucial lyricism, which had contributed to the success of so many famous operas.

The presentation of this masterpiece retraces the path of its first performance, presenting the recent staging conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Vittorio Borrelli for the very Teatro Regio that first saw Manon triumph and a few years later would see the premiere of La bohème. The whole project was produced with the Centro studi Giacomo Puccini in Lucca for the musicological content and the production of the documentary by Elvio Annese and Roberto San Pietro, which reconstructs the composer’s career. The schools project with the educational section was curated by Carlo Delfrati.