The Met: Live in HD
Puccini's Manon Lescaut

Jonas Kaufmann has canceled his performances in this season’s new production of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut due to illness. Star tenor Roberto Alagna—currently at the Met giving an acclaimed performance of Canio in Pagliacci—will sing his first-ever performances of des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, replacing Kaufmann. To allow time for him learn the staging before the February 12 new production premiere, Alagna must withdraw from his remaining performances as Canio as he undertakes this new challenge. The French tenor, who has sung more than 100 Met performances since 1996, learned the role of des Grieux for a 2006 series of performances that were canceled, meaning that this season’s Met performances are the first time he will ever sing the part onstage.
The new production of Manon Lescaut, conducted by Fabio Luisi and directed by Sir Richard Eyre, premieres February 12 and will run for nine performances through March 11. Kristine Opolais stars in the title role with Alagna as the ill-fated lovers at the center of Manon Lescaut, Puccini’s passionate adaptation of the classic novel about a free-spirited country girl who becomes the toast of Paris. The opera also features Massimo Cavalletti as Lescaut and Brindley Sherratt as Geronte. The March 5 matinee will be transmitted live as part of the Met’s Live in HD series, which reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world.

Ticket holders are invited to a pre-opera talk by Leslie Gerber at 12:30 in the theater.

 This series is sponsored by Premier Medical Group; Jane W. Nuhn Charitable Trust; and Dr. Edwin A. Ulrich Charitable Trust.

Also made possible through the support of the Benjamin R. Strong Opera Fund and the Stephen & Julia Dunwell Fund, both of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.

The promotional sponsor is WMHT FM 89.1 Schenectady and WRHV FM 88.7 Poughkeepsie.