Manon Lescaut is the first volume of the series ŒñThe operas of Giacomo PucciniŒî - Critical Edition - in collaboration with Archivio storico Ricordi and Fondazione Simonetta Puccini. It makes available the three main versions of the opera that have survived in various sources: an 1893 version, with the original Act I finale, the fi rst version of ManonŒÍs Act IV aria, and the uncut version of the final duet in Act IV; a ŒñmidcareerŒî version imagined by Puccini in the fi rst decade of the new century, when he sanctioned the almost complete omission of ManonŒÍs Act IV aria; and finally the last version that Puccini lived to approve, with ManonŒÍs aria restored, albeit with a revised literary text. The volume is introduced by a preface to the Puccini Critical Edition, an historical introduction, a detailed description of the operaŒÍs many sources and a lengthy critical commentary which discusses numerous problematic details in the musical text.
