Jules Massenet

Manon

CONDUCTOR Opera in five acts

Fabio Luisi Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille,
based on the novel L’Historie du Chevalier des
PRODUCTION
Laurent Pelly Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost

SET DESIGNER
Saturday, April 7, 2012, 12:00–3:55 pm
Chantal Thomas

COSTUME DESIGNER
New Production
Laurent Pelly

LIGHTING DESIGNER
Joël Adam
The production of Manon was made possible
CHOREOGRAPHER
by a generous gift from The Sybil B. Harrington
Lionel Hoche Endowment Fund.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Christian Räth

GENERAL MANAGER
Peter Gelb

MUSIC DIRECTOR
James Levine
Manon is a co-production of the Metropolitan Opera;
PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Teatro alla
Fabio Luisi Scala, Milan; and Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse.
 2011–12 Season

The 261st Metropolitan Opera performance of

Jules Massenet’s

Manon
This performance
is being Conductor
broadcast Fabio Luisi
live over The
Toll Brothers–
Metropolitan cast in order of vocal appearance

Opera
International Guillot de Morfontaine Manon Lescaut
Radio Network, Christophe Mortagne Anna Netrebko
sponsored by
Toll Brothers, De Brétigny Chevalier des Grieux
America’s luxury Bradley Garvin Piotr Beczala
®
homebuilder ,
Pousette A Maid
with generous Anne-Carolyn Bird Kathryn Day
long-term
support from Javotte Count des Grieux
The Annenberg Jennifer Black ** David Pittsinger
Foundation, the
Vincent A. Stabile Rosette
Endowment for Ginger Costa-Jackson **
Broadcast Media,
and contributions An Innkeeper
from listeners Philip Cokorinos
worldwide.
Lescaut, Manon’s cousin
This performance Paulo Szot
is also being
Guards
broadcast live on
Alexander Lewis *
Metropolitan Opera
David Crawford
Radio on SiriusXM
channel 74.

Saturday, April 7, 2012, 12:00–3:55 pm

 This afternoon’s performance is being transmitted
live in high definition to movie theaters worldwide.
The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant
from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation.
Bloomberg is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD.

Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Anna Netrebko Chorus Master Donald Palumbo
and Piotr Beczala Musical Preparation Dennis Giauque, Donna Racik,
in a scene from
Steven Eldredge, Denise Massé, and Patrick Furrer
Massenet’s Manon
Assistant to the Costume Designer
Jean-Jacques Delmotte
Assistant Stage Directors Eric Einhorn, Gregory Keller,
and Tomer Zvulun
Stage Band Conductor Jeffrey Goldberg
Prompter Donna Racik
Met Titles Jacqueline Jones
Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed
and painted by Royal Opera House Production
Departments, Covent Garden, London; and
Metropolitan Opera Shops
Costumes executed by Royal Opera House Production
Departments, Covent Garden, London; Thêátre du
Capitole, Tolouse; Metropolitan Opera Costume
* Member of the Department; and Saint Laurie Merchant Tailors,
Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program Studio Rouge, Das Gewand Gmbh
Wigs by Metropolitan Opera Wig Department
** Graduate of the
Lindemann Young Artist This performance is made possible in part by public funds
Development Program from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Yamaha is the official
Before the performance begins, please switch off cell phones
piano of the Metropolitan
Opera. and other electronic devices.

Latecomers will not be

admitted during the Met Titles
performance. To activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of your
seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display, press
the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an usher at
Visit metopera.org intermission.
 Synopsis

France, the end of the 19th century

Act I
Courtyard of an inn at Amiens, north of Paris

Act II
The apartment of des Grieux and Manon, in the Rue Vivienne, Paris

Intermission (AT APPROXIMATELY 1:10 PM)

Act III
scene 1 Cours-la-Reine, Paris
scene 2 The chapel of the seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris

Intermission (AT APPROXIMATELY 2:40 PM)

Act IV
The Hôtel de Transylvanie, a popular gambling house, Paris

Act V
The road to the port of Le Havre

Act I
The noblemen de Brétigny and Guillot de Morfontaine are having dinner with
three young women—Poussette, Javotte, and Rosette—at an inn in Amiens.
People gather for the arrival of the coach to Paris, among them Lescaut. He is
waiting for his young cousin Manon, who is on her way to enter a convent. The
coach arrives and Manon expresses her exuberant joy about her first journey
away from home. Enchanted by her, Guillot offers to take Manon to Paris, but she
and his companions laugh at him. Lescaut reproaches Manon for her behavior,
which could shame their family. Manon gazes with envy at the elegant clothes
of the other girls. The young Chevalier des Grieux arrives too late to catch the
coach, which has already left for Paris. He falls in love with Manon at first sight,
and when she tells him that it is her fondness for pleasure that has led her family
to send her to a convent, he is determined to rescue her from such a fate. They
escape together in Guillot’s coach. The returning Lescaut furiously accuses
Guillot of having kidnapped his cousin, but then learns from the innkeeper that
Manon went off with a young man. Guillot, mocked by everyone, swears revenge
on the eloping couple.

Act II
In their apartment in Paris, des Grieux writes to his father for permission to marry
Manon. The maid announces visitors: Lescaut and another man, who, she warns
34
Manon, is de Brétigny in disguise. Lescaut, using the argument of family honor
offended, berates des Grieux for having abducted Manon. In fact he is trying
to profit by setting her up with de Brétigny. Des Grieux, to prove his honorable
intentions, produces his letter. Meanwhile, de Brétigny tells Manon that des
Grieux’s father is planning to kidnap his own son that evening; if she does nothing
to prevent it and instead comes to live with de Brétigny, she can have wealth and
luxury. After Lescaut and de Brétigny have left, des Grieux goes out to post his
letter. Manon realizes she is unable to resist de Brétigny’s offer and bids farewell
to her life with des Grieux. Des Grieux returns to find her weeping, but she will
not tell him why. He talks of his dream of an idyllic future together in the country.
When there’s a knock on the door Manon begs him not to answer it, but he goes.
Looking out the window, she sees him being abducted.

Act III
On a public holiday, a crowd has gathered at the Cours-la-Reine. Manon, now
living with de Brétigny and the toast of Paris, praises the pleasures of her luxurious
existence. Overhearing a conversation between de Brétigny and the Count des
Grieux, she learns that the count’s son, following an unhappy love affair, is about
to become a priest and will preach later that day at the seminary of St. Sulpice.
Manon doesn’t believe that des Grieux could have forgotten her and leaves the
festivities to find him.

At St. Sulpice, des Grieux has attracted much admiration for his sermon. The
count tries to dissuade his son from entering the priesthood in favor of marriage.
Des Grieux is adamant but realizes that he can’t forget Manon. When she
appears he angrily confronts her. She admits her guilt but begs him to forgive
her and to remember their past love. Des Grieux yields to his feelings and
renounces his vows.

Act IV
Gamblers are gathered at the Hôtel de Transylvanie, among them Guillot and
Lescaut. Manon and des Grieux arrive, and she reminds him that his fortune
has nearly run out. He accepts Guillot’s challenge to play. Manon, Poussette,
Javotte, and Rosette consider what money might bring them. Des Grieux wins
heavily and Guillot accuses him of cheating, threatening to inform the count. The
police arrive and des Grieux is arrested. The count assures his son that he will be
released soon. Manon, as his accomplice, is taken away to prison.

Act V
Des Grieux and Lescaut have come up with a plan to rescue Manon, who has
been sentenced to deportation to America, but their paid accomplices have
deserted them. Lescaut manages to bribe the guards and leaves Manon and
des Grieux alone together. Ill and exhausted, she begs des Grieux to forgive her
for the shame she has brought him. While she recalls their past, he only thinks of
their future together. But the rescue has come too late. As des Grieux assures her
of his forgiveness and love, Manon dies in his arms.
Visit metopera.org 35
 In Focus

Jules Massenet

Manon
Premiere: Paris, Opéra Comique, 1884
A take on the quintessentially French tale of the beautiful young woman who
is incapable of forsaking both love and luxury, Massenet’s Manon features
one of the truly unforgettable, irresistible, and archetypal female characters in
opera. While the story is firmly set in class and gender issues of the past, the
character of Manon herself is timeless, convincing, and familiar. The lover she
can neither forget nor completely commit to is a young chevalier, des Grieux,
who is caught in his own struggle between his desires and the expectations
of society. The opera triumphs in its portrayal of love within an oppressive (if
outwardly gorgeous) society: his father, her cousin, and various men interested
in her for their own reasons are always hovering near the lovers. Manon has been
a success ever since its premiere, championed by a diverse roster of singers who
have cherished its dramatic opportunities, exalted style (maintained even when
painting a searing portrait of the basest human traits), and ravishing music.

The Creators
Jules Massenet (1842–1912), a French composer wildly popular in his day, was
noted for his operas, songs, and oratorios. His somewhat sentimental style
lost popularity in the early 20th century, with only Manon maintaining a steady
place in the repertory. Several of his other operas, especially Werther (1892)
and Thaïs (1894), have been performed more frequently in the last few decades.
His librettists for Manon were Henri Meilhac (1831–1897) and Philippe Gille
(1831–1901). Meilhac also collaborated on the libretto of Bizet’s Carmen, several
of Offenbach’s most popular operettas, and a farce that became the basis for
Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus. Gille was a dramatist who also worked with
Offenbach and co-wrote the libretto to Delibes’s Lakmé. The text of Manon is
based on the hugely influential novel L’Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de
Manon Lescaut by the colorful Abbé Prévost (1697–1763), which would also be
used as an operatic source by Giacomo Puccini in 1893.

The Setting
The opera is set in and around Paris, with familiar landmarks such as the church
of St. Sulpice forming important reference points in the story. The first act takes
place in the smaller city of Amiens, and the final act on the road to the seaside
port of Le Havre. The opera was originally set, as in Prévost’s novel, in the early

36
18th century, a time known as the Regency that would become notable for a
high level of governmental corruption. The Met’s new production places the
drama in the late 19th century, the so-called “Belle Époque” and the time when
the opera was written.

The Music
Massenet’s score captures the drama of his most memorable heroine with
deft craftsmanship, expressive vocal and orchestral writing, and an almost
unparalleled level of sensuality. A solo violin accompanies the first meeting of
the lovers—this melody will become their main love theme. There is no shortage
of passion, perhaps most notably in des Grieux’s Act III aria “Ah! fuyez, douce
image,” in which he struggles with his longing for Manon. But much of the
music’s sensuality is different from what one would expect in an Italian opera, or
even a more earthy French work such as Carmen. Some of the most dramatically
(and erotically) charged passages rely on the simplest effects; the quivering of
the violins, for example, when the lovers finally touch in the St. Sulpice scene is
a brief musical detail, but it is as voluptuous as anything in opera. Likewise, many
of the solos rely on subtlety and delicate colors for their effect; the refinement of
both Manon’s “Adieu, notre petite table” and des Grieux’s “En fermant les yeux”
(known as “Le rêve,” or “The Dream”) in Act II create a sense of breathless
wonder and suspended time. Massenet also achieved a convincing mood of
nostalgia with faux-Baroque touches, particularly in Manon’s famous Gavotte
in the first scene of Act III, “Obéissons quand leur voix appelle,” a paean to
the joys of youth whose reflection of the past functions on both personal and
historical levels.

Manon at the Met

Manon premiered at the Met in 1895 with Sybil Sanderson in the title role. The
California-born diva was a favorite of Paris audiences and of Massenet himself,
who had written the title role of Thaïs for her the year before. Polish tenor
Jean de Reszke sang des Grieux and French bass Pol Plançon was the Count.
Geraldine Farrar and Enrico Caruso led the cast of a new production in 1909.
Twenty years later, the legendary Joseph Urban designed another new staging
that featured Lucrezia Bori and Beniamino Gigli. The Brazilian soprano Bidú
Sayão was a favorite Manon in 22 performances from 1937 through 1952. Licia
Albanese (11 performances) and Victoria de los Angeles (15 performances) were
the most popular interpreters of the title role through the 1950s, with Giuseppe
Di Stefano and Nicolai Gedda among the great tenors singing des Grieux during
this period. New productions by Günther Rennert (with Gedda, Anna Moffo, and
Giorgio Tozzi) and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (featuring Catherine Malfitano, Dénes
Gulyás, and Ferruccio Furlanetto) followed in 1963 and 1987, respectively. Julius
Rudel conducted Renée Fleming and Marcello Giordani in eight performances
of the Ponnelle production in 1997, and Jesús López-Cobos led Fleming and
Marcelo Álvarez in 2005. Laurent Pelly’s new production, conducted by Fabio
Luisi and starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala, opens March 26, 2012.

Visit metopera.org 37
COVENT GARDEN PRODUCTION PHOTO: BILL COOPER

2011–12 season Anna Netrebko in Manon

e Metropolitan Opera is pleased
to salute Yves Saint Laurent in
recognition of its generous support
during the 2011–12 season.
Program Note

S
et in Paris during spirited but turbulent times, Massenet’s Manon explores
the constant discrepancy between wealth and poverty, duty and desire.
The idealistic des Grieux and his beloved Manon are caught between
these poles and are powerless to survive. Des Grieux’s fevered dreams of a
simple life fade before his eyes as Manon is arrested for prostitution. But rather
than turning to po-faced morality, Massenet preserves the lovers’ touching
idealism right through to the opera’s final bars. Composed for Paris’s popular
Opéra Comique, Massenet wanted to make this hand-me-down tale more
accessible, more tangible for his 1880s audience. So instead of patronizingly
portraying the lovers as a foolish couple, the composer’s rich melodies and
harmonic eloquence make us realize why they dared to dream.
Born in St. Étienne in southeastern France, Massenet moved to Paris with
his family when he was just a child. The establishment of the Second Empire in
1852 and the great urban transformation heralded by Baron Haussmann created
a heady artistic and social city. Thrown into a world where grand opéra turned
to opéra comique, when Wagnerism was at its height, and when Baudelaire and
absinthe mixed together in an intoxicating cultural cocktail, Massenet was gifted
an extraordinary apprenticeship. Although initially reluctant to try his hand at
composition, he won first prize in the esteemed Prix de Rome in 1863. When he
returned from further studies in Italy, Paris welcomed him back with open arms.
While Massenet would trump operatic peers such as Saint-Saëns, Bizet,
Delibes, Lalo, Fauré, and Duparc, he was a slow starter. The eventual success
of Le Roi de Lahore (premiered at the Opéra National’s extravagant new
Palais Garnier in 1877) brought Massenet to wider attention. Offers came in
from various collaborators and theaters, including the increasingly chic Opéra
Comique. Based at the Salle Favart, just off one of Haussmann’s new boulevards,
this rival for the Opéra National’s claims on the city’s operatic legacy prided
itself on more realistic work. Bizet’s Carmen had set the trend in 1875, with
many wishing to follow in its stamping footsteps. Formally less strict than the
Opéra National, the Opéra Comique employed dialogue, dancing, and well-
known tales. It fostered a new brand of theatrical realism that paved the way for
verismo and Puccini at the turn of the century.
Massenet was an opportunistic composer and the suggestion from one
of the Opéra Comique’s directors to write an opera based on Abbé Prévost’s
famous novel Manon Lescaut suited him down to the ground. There was not a
person alive in France who didn’t know the story. The book had already been
adapted as an opera by Daniel Auber and as a popular sung drama in the early
1850s. But what had been a previously moderate success became Massenet’s
calling card. It was a bold choice. Being the people’s opera house, the Opéra
Comique also guarded common morality, and Manon Lescaut was a distinctly
salacious tale. So, rather than emphasizing the sexual aspects, Massenet and his

39
 Program Note CONTINUED

team created a delicate story of lost innocence. Manon was to be tender and
domesticated.
Unlike Auber’s opera or Puccini’s passionate Manon Lescaut (first heard in
1893), Massenet’s Manon is about a world at odds joined by young love. A chance
meeting on the road to Paris sets in train a whole series of romantic and ultimately
tragic episodes. Des Grieux comes from a strict, moralistic background, while
Manon’s family, represented by her cousin Lescaut, introduces her to a world of
gambling, sex, and alcohol. The magnetism of that carefree life is immediately
apparent in Massenet’s score, the trish-trashy jangle of the tambourine and the
endless stream of baroque-inspired dances characterizing glorious vanity. Bright
major keys and chirruping sweethearts—Pousette, Javotte, and Rosette, all with
interchangeable names and identical dotted music—stand out against des
Grieux’s ardent melodies.
That disparity is immediately apparent in the overture. A fizzy prelude
gives way to an amorous middle section representing the young lovers. Des
Grieux’s first entrance in Act I similarly shifts us from those lurid tones to a
balmy string-led accompaniment featuring the young man’s cello theme. It is a
style that returns at the beginning of the second act and later in his passionate
Act III aria “Ah! fuyez, douce image.” But however insistent he is, des Grieux
is unable to keep Manon, his “sphinx étonnant”—mysterious, astonishing
sphinx—to himself. A last desperate plea—“En fermant les yeux” in Act II—
mimics the brighter keys of her world but is futile. Des Grieux’s commitment
and Manon’s flightiness finally clash in the third act. The first scene is a riot of
color and celebration. Manon is in her element, greeted by fame and fortune (all
provided by the unctuous Monsieur de Brétigny). Massenet cruelly highlights
the artificiality of her success with a deliberately formulaic opening scene.
Manon shows off with florid bel canto excess in “Je marche sur tous les chemins”
and her pert gavotte “Obéissons quand leur voix appelle.” The ensuing ballet
apes the old world of grand opéra. Reality finally comes home to roost in the
next scene.
The soberness of St. Sulpice—an austere basilica on the other side of the
River Seine—is a great shock after the festive atmosphere of the Cours-la-Reine.
Having been rejected by Manon, des Grieux has placed himself as far from her
as he can. Throughout the scene, Massenet charts a much more realistic course.
As dialogue unfolds between des Grieux and his father, the music slowly moves
into recitative and then into the count’s “Épouse quelque brave fille.” Left alone,
des Grieux is disconsolate. Although “Ah! fuyez, douce image” sounds like a
hymn, it recalls the lovers’ passionate music. Praying to God, des Grieux dutifully
follows the tread of a distant organ, but he soon breaks out of those liturgical
constraints. When the curtain rises on Act IV, desire has won and we are back in
Manon’s world of gambling and drink. Des Grieux is out of his depth, Manon

40
has broken de Brétigny’s rules, and the lovers are destined to ruin. Formerly jolly
music mocks their choices, and Act V is a doom-laden recollection of what has
gone before.
So who is to blame for this tragedy? Certainly not des Grieux, but neither
is Manon. Although Massenet’s morality remains clear throughout the opera,
there is a touching note of regret that runs through every word the lovers sing.
From Manon’s stumbling first entrance—marked “moitié larmes, moitié sourires”
(“half tears, half smiles”) in the score—to the heartbreaking “Adieu, notre petite
table,” she is clearly no femme fatale. Manon is merely dazzled by the bright
lights and the big city, the kind of girl that Massenet would have seen sitting
in the gallery at the Opéra Comique—an aspect that is underlined in director
Laurent Pelly’s updating of the tragedy to the time of the opera’s composition.
But however affectionate the score, Manon’s journey from innocent girl to
destitute courtesan is extreme, with Massenet’s eschewal of high drama
emphasizing that tragedy. The original Opéra Comique audience may have
professed righteous indignation at the lovers’ lot but, moved by Massenet’s
tender melodies, they would also have felt profound sympathy, as we do today.
In the heroine’s final words, “Et c’est là l’histoire de Manon Lescaut!”—And that
is the story of Manon Lescaut! —Gavin Plumley

Visit metopera.org 41
 The Cast and Creative Team

Fabio Luisi
conductor (genoa , italy)

this season New productions of Don Giovanni, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, and Manon,
complete Ring cycles, and a revival of La Traviata at the Met; two concerts with the MET
Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Manon for his debut at La Scala; and concert engagements
with the Cleveland Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Vienna Symphony, and Oslo
Philharmonic.
met production Le Nozze di Figaro, Elektra, Hansel and Gretel, Tosca, Lulu, Simon
Boccanegra, Die Ägyptische Helena, Turandot, Ariadne auf Naxos, Rigoletto, Das
Rheingold, and Don Carlo (debut, 2005).
career highlights He is principal conductor of the Met and a frequent guest of the Vienna
State Opera, Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and Berlin’s Deutsche Oper and Staatsoper.
He made his Salzburg Festival debut in 2003 leading Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae
(returning the following season for Die Ägyptische Helena) and his American debut
with the Lyric Opera of Chicago leading Rigoletto. He also appears regularly with the
Orchestre de Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, and Rome’s Santa
Cecilia Orchestra. He was music director of the Dresden Staatskapelle and Semperoper
from 2007 to 2010 and is chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony and music director of
Japan’s Pacific Music Festival.

Laurent Pelly
director and costume designer (fontenay- sous - bois , france)

this season Manon and La Fille du Régiment at the Met, Manon at La Scala, L’Enfant et les
Sortilèges and L’Heure Espagnol at the Glyndebourne Festival, Cendrillon at Brussels’s La
Monnaie, La Vie Parisienne in Lyon, and Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Théâtre National
de Toulouse.
met production La Fille du Régiment (debut, 2008).
career highlights He is currently co-artistic director of the Théâtre National de Toulouse.
Opera work includes Cendrillon and Manon at Covent Garden; Giulio Cesare at the Paris
Opera; Weill’s The Threepenny Opera at Paris’s Comédie Française; La Fille du Régiment
at Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, San Francisco Opera, and in Barcelona;
Hänsel und Gretel at the Glyndebourne Festival; La Traviata in Santa Fe and Turin; Pelléas
et Mélisande at the Theater an der Wien; The Cunning Little Vixen at Japan’s Saito Kinen
Festival and Florence’s Maggio Musicale; Platée for the Paris Opera; La Belle Hélène and
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein at Paris’s Châtelet; and L’Elisir d’Amore at the Paris
Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre.

42
 Chantal Thomas
set designer (nuits - saint- georges , france)

this season Manon and La Fille du Régiment at the Met and Le Nozze de Figaro at the
Aix-en-Provence Festival.
met production La Fille du Régiment (debut, 2008).
career highlights She has collaborated with director Laurent Pelly on some 50 shows,
including plays, musicals, and operas. Opera work with Pelly includes Ariadne auf Naxos,
Platée, and Giulio Cesare (Paris Opera), Orphée aux Enfers (Genoa, Lyon), La Grande-
Duchesse de Gérolstein and La Belle Hélène (Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, Santa Fe),
Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Lausanne), Les Boréades (Lyon), The Love for Three Oranges
(Netherlands Opera), L’Elisir d’Amore (Covent Garden, Bastille Opera, La Scala), La Fille
du Régiment (Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, San Francisco, Barcelona), Bluebeard’s
Castle and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (Lyon, Riga), La Vie Parisienne (Lyon), Pelléas et
Mélisande (Theater an der Wien), La Traviata (Santa Fe, Turin), and The Threepenny Opera
(Paris’s Comédie Française).

Joël Adam
lighting designer (lalinde, france)

this season Manon and La Fille du Régiment at the Met.

met production La Fille du Régiment (debut, 2008).
career highlights He has worked extensively with Laurent Pelly on such productions
as Gianni Schicchi and L’Heure Espagnole in Tokyo, The Love for Three Oranges in
Amsterdam, L’Elisir d’Amore at Paris’s Bastille Opera, La Fille du Régiment at Covent
Garden, La Finta Semplice at the Theater an der Wien, Don Quichotte in Brussels, Rise
and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in Toulouse, Weill’s The Threepenny Opera at Paris’s
Comédie Française, and La Voix Humaine, Bluebeard’s Castle, and La Vie Parisienne in
Lyon. Additional theatrical and operatic collaborators include Philippe Adrien (Genet’s
Les Bonnes and Hamlet at Paris’s Théâtre de la Tempête), Andrei Serban (The Merchant
of Venice and Molière’s The Miser at the Comédie Française), and Sandrine Anglade (The
Rape of Lucretia in Nantes and Romeo and Juliet in Bordeaux).

Lionel Hoche
choreographer (paris , france)

Manon for his debut at the Met.

this season
He studied at the Paris Opera Ballet School and joined the Netherlands
career highlights
Dans Theater as a dancer in 1983. From 1989 to 1991 he was a member of the Daniel

43
 The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

Larrieu company, and since 1990 he has choreographed works for companies including
the Paris Opera Ballet, Netherlands Dans Theater, Batsheva Dance Company, Monte-
Carlo Ballet, Zorich Ballet, National Ballet of Finland, Madrid’s Compañia Nacional de
Danza, Lyon Opera Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, and Opéra de Lyon. He is
the founder and director of his own company, Cie Lionel Hoche, based in Paris, and was
made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002.

Christian Räth
associate director (hamburg , germany)

this season La Fille du Régiment (stage director) for his debut and Manon (associate
director) at the Met, Tristan und Isolde for the Dallas Opera (director and designer), La
Fille du Régiment at Covent Garden (revival director), Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne in Lyon
(associate director), and Manon at La Scala (associate director).
career highlights His work encompasses a large and diverse repertoire, including Falstaff
in Washington, Roméo et Juliette in Houston, Carmen in Geneva, Die Zauberflöte in Cairo,
and Fidelio and Luisa Miller in Dallas. He was associate director for San Francisco Opera’s
2011 Ring cycle and has directed revivals of Ariadne auf Naxos for the Deutsche Oper Berlin
and in Copenhagen, L’Elisir d’Amore at La Scala and St. Petersburg’s Mariinksy Theatre,
Billy Budd for the Paris Opera and in Pittsburgh, Salome and The Cunning Little Vixen at
the Saito Kinen Festival, and Il Trovatore and West Side Story at the Bregenz Festival.

Anna Netrebko
soprano (krasnodar , russia )

this season The title roles of Anna Bolena and Manon at the Met, Giulietta in I Capuleti
e i Montecchi with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, a recital in Paris, a concert at Vienna’s
Musikverein with Daniel Barenboim, and a concert tour of Germany with bass Erwin
Schrott.
met appearances Norina in Don Pasquale, Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Juliette
in Roméo et Juliette, Lucia di Lammermoor, Natasha in War and Peace (debut, 2002),
Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Mimì and Musetta in La Bohème, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Elvira
in I Puritani.
career highlights Violetta in La Traviata at the Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera,
and Bavarian State Opera; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Salzburg Festival; Ilia in
Idomeneo and Gilda with Washington National Opera; Manon at Covent Garden; Lucia
and Juliette with Los Angeles Opera; Anna Bolena, Micaëla in Carmen, Mimì, and Manon
with the Vienna State Opera; and numerous roles with St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre.

44
 Piotr Beczala
tenor (czechowice - dziedzice, poland)

this season Des Grieux in Manon at the Met; the Duke in Rigoletto with the Paris Opera;
Gustavo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and the Duke in Zurich; the title
role of Faust in Barcelona; Alfredo in La Traviata at Covent Garden; Edgardo in Lucia di
Lammermoor with the Vienna State Opera; and Rodolfo at the Salzburg Festival.
met appearances Rodolfo, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, the Duke (debut, 2006), Lenski in
Eugene Onegin, and Edgardo.
career highlights The Prince in Rusalka, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, the Italian Tenor in
Der Rosenkavalier, and Vaudémont in Iolanta at the Salzburg Festival; the Duke at Covent
Garden and La Scala; Alfredo in Munich and Berlin; and Werther in Frankfurt and Munich.
He has also sung Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in Vienna, Berlin, and Paris, Jeník in The
Bartered Bride with the Paris Opera and in Zurich, Rodolfo in Amsterdam, Vaudémont in
Vienna and Moscow, and Lenski at Paris’s Bastille Opera and for his 2004 United States
debut with the San Francisco Opera.

Bradley Garvin
bass - baritone (river forest, illinois)

this season Prince Arjuna in Satyagraha and de Brétigny in Manon at the Met.
met appearances He has sung more than 150 performances of 17 roles, including Marshal
Berthier in War and Peace, Animal Trainer/Acrobat in Lulu, Wilhelm in The Ghosts
of Versailles, Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Javelinot in Dialogues des
Carmélites, and the Second Prisoner in Fidelio (debut, 1993).
career highlights Recent performances include the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann
with Florida Grand Opera, Monterone in Rigoletto for his debut with the Dallas Opera,
and Scarpia in Tosca with the Boston Lyric Opera. He has also sung the title role of Der
Fliegende Holländer with the Madison Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with the
Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Scarpia with the Minnesota Opera, Jochanaan in Salome with
Fort Worth Opera, Méphistophélès in Faust with the Toledo Opera, Figaro in Le Nozze di
Figaro with Dayton Opera, and Colline in La Bohème and Don Giovanni with the Arizona
Opera.

Christophe Mortagne
tenor (le mans , france)

this season Guillot de Morfontaine in Manon at La Scala and for his Met debut, King Ouf
in Chabrier’s L’Étoile in Frankfurt, and Prosper in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne in Nantes.

45
 The Cast and Creative Team CONTINUED

career highlights Recent appearances include Guillot de Morfontaine at Covent Garden,

Tokyo’s NHK Hall, and in Nice and Hong Kong; Laërte in Mignon at Paris’s Opéra Comique;
and Spoletta in Tosca at the Orange Festival. An actor as well as a singer, he is a member
of Paris’s Comédie Française and has worked with directors including Kasper Holten,
David Pountney, and Peter Stein and conductors such as Rani Calderon, Mikko Franck,
Marc Minkowski, François-Xavier Roth, Antonio Pappano, and Kirill Petrenko.

David Pittsinger
bass - baritone (clinton, connecticut)

this season Count des Grieux in Manon at the Met, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte with
the San Francisco Opera, and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Portland Opera.
met appearances Trulove in The Rake’s Progress (debut, 1997), the Friar in Don Carlo,
Colline in La Bohème, Angelotti in Tosca, the Ghost in Hamlet, and the Speaker.
career highlights Emille de Becque in South Pacific at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont
Theater and on the U.S. national tour, Cadmus and Somnus in Semele at Vienna’s Theater
an der Wien, the title role of Don Giovanni and Scarpia in Tosca with Florida Grand Opera,
Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Escamillo in
Carmen with the Santa Fe Opera, Count Almaviva with the Los Angeles Opera, Zoroastro
in Handel’s Orlando at Glimmerglass Opera, Olin Blitch in Floyd’s Susannah with the
Opera Company of Philadelphia, the title role of Massenet’s Don Quichotte in Buenos
Aires, and Nick Shadow in Cologne and Vienna.

Paulo Szot
baritone (são paulo, brazil )

this season Lescaut in Manon at the Met, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro for his
debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Escamillo in Carmen for his debut at the San
Francisco Opera, and his UK debut in South Pacific at London’s Barbican Centre.
met appearances Kovalyov in The Nose (debut, 2010) and Escamillo.
career highlights He sang Emile de Becque in the Broadway revival of South Pacific (for
which he won the 2008 Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical) and has also appeared as
Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Paris Opera; Eugene Onegin, Donato in Menotti’s Maria
Golovin, and Danilo in The Merry Widow in Marseille; des Grieux in Massenet’s Le Portrait
de Manon at Barcelona’s Liceo; Escamillo in Toronto, Santiago, and São Paulo; Marcello in
La Bohème in Bordeaux; Count Almaviva at the Flemish Opera; Donato at Italy’s Spoleto
Festival; Don Giovanni in Dallas and Bordeaux; and Escamillo, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore,
and the Count with New York City Opera.

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