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The opera
SENSUALITY, SIN AND ROMANCE
Based on the writings of eighteenth-century author Prévost, Manon Lescaut is Puccini’s first truly great opera. A sinner without malice (as Prévost, defined her), Manon is the unconscious incarnation of evil, whose charm inevitably brings destruction upon those around her. Puccini gives flesh and blood to the young heroine, outlining her complex, passionate and frivolous nature in a story that begins with love at first sight, blooming among a thousand difficulties, and ends in tragedy and desolation.