Composer: Jules Massenet
Opera: Manon
Venue: Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper)
Date: Saturday, 17 January 2026
Time: 19:00–22:15 (local time, Vienna) / 18:00–21:15 (GMT)
Language: French
Streaming: Vienna State Opera website Live streaming – free
Cast
- Manon: Kristina Mkhitaryan
- Chevalier des Grieux: Benjamin Bernheim
- Count des Grieux: Matheus França
- Lescaut: Stefan Astakhov
Musical direction: Bertrand de Billy
Production: Andrei Șerban
Set and costumes: Peter Pabst
The Vienna State Opera streams live Manon, Jules Massenet’s opéra comique in five acts, based on Abbé Prévost’s The Tale of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut. Premiered in Paris in 1884, Manon quickly established itself as one of the most enduring works of French lyric theatre, praised for its melodic immediacy, dramatic pacing, and sharply drawn psychological contrasts.
This long-standing Vienna production, first seen in 2007, is directed by Andrei Șerban, who relocates the action from the mid-18th century to the 1930s. The shift highlights the opera’s social tensions by placing aristocrats, nouveaux riches, and outsiders in a visually legible modern world, reinforcing the fragile balance between desire, ambition, and moral collapse that drives the drama.
Kristina Mkhitaryan sings the title role of Manon, whose longing for luxury conflicts with her love for the Chevalier des Grieux, portrayed by Benjamin Bernheim. The performance is led by Bertrand de Billy, whose close association with French repertoire underlines the score’s nervous energy and lyrical urgency—qualities Massenet himself famously described as essential to his musical voice.
This free live stream offers international audiences the chance to experience one of the Vienna State Opera’s core French repertory productions, combining star casting with a visually and dramaturgically coherent staging.
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