Puccini composed “Manon Lescaut” between 1889 and 1892. The libretto, which is based on the novel “L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut” by Antoine François Prévost, went through a difficult genesis, as many authors contributed to it. This symphonic interlude, which introduces the third act, was initially placed at the beginning of the second act. “Manon Lescaut” is Puccini’s third opera, but it is considered the first of his artistic maturity. The same subject was also successfully set to music by Jules Massenet and premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1884. Puccini did not really worry about the inevitable comparison with Massenet’s opera and is quoted to have said: “Massenet feels it as a Frenchman, with powder and minuets. I shall feel it as an Italian, with a desperate passion.”

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