Teatro Real opened its 2026-27 season on 23 September 2026 with a Manon Lescaut polished enough to satisfy, yet too familiar to surprise. The production returned to the stage after an absence of 102 years. Thirteen performances are scheduled through 11 October 2026.
King Felipe VI also attended the opening, information from the official Casa Real record.
Sondra Radvanovsky and Michael Fabiano perform with Lucas Meachem under Nicola Luisotti. This is Luisotti's third Teatro Real season opening. The cast also alternates with Saioa Hernández and Jorge de León, with Szymon Mechliński in the second group. The evening's basic problem is the gap between the artists' reputations and the performance's limited impact as a whole.
Carlos Wagner's staging works, but it leaves little impression. New to Madrid, it was created in co-production with Oper Köln. Its broad empty spaces and grey palette move cleanly from Paris to the port of Le Havre, then to the Louisiana desert.
The crowd scenes are especially well handled during the ball in Amiens and the counting of the condemned women. The final procession gives shape to a scene with little action and creates a genuinely mournful close.
Even so, the production looks as if it has been seen before. That feeling of déjà vu is striking because the Madrid staging is new. Wagner changes the visual frame without finding a clear theatrical idea of his own.
The costumes sit between the 20th and 21st centuries. The symbolic spaces remain open and interchangeable. This visual language could belong to Tosca or Lucia, and would fit La fille du régiment as easily as Puccini's Manon Lescaut.
The opera does not lack established names; it lacks a sharper angle of its own. That stands in contrast to the Madrid derby preview in the city's wider cultural and sporting agenda.
Radvanovsky has the power and range the role demands. Her vibrato worked especially well in the tragic fourth act, when she dominated the stage. Earlier in the evening, her heavy oscillation and affected delivery worked against Manon's innocence and youth. The voice sounded imposing rather than fresh, and the phrasing rarely felt spontaneous.
Michael Fabiano also fell short of his best form as Des Grieux. His musicality was clear, as was his close work with the orchestra. Some of Puccini's high notes proved difficult, and his metallic American timbre lacked its usual force.
Meachem had more trouble in Lescaut's low register, where his projection lacked firmness.
The supporting cast handled its assignments well. Mercedes Gancedo provided the evening's most tender vocal moment in the second-act madrigal scene. Her sweet, innocent sound blended attractively with the women of the Teatro Real chorus.
The chorus also acted strongly and sang with confidence. The announced line-up alternates between two casts. The second group includes Saioa Hernández and Jorge de León, with Szymon Mechliński alongside the performers heard in this account.
The 2026-27 season includes 16 titles and six new co-productions, as reported in season coverage. Manon Lescaut fits that larger program of international projects and new productions, even if Wagner's staging feels visually familiar.
From the pit, Luisotti supplied the performance's firmest foundation. He kept the orchestra from covering the singers or chorus and brought out recurring motifs that recall Wagnerian Leitmotive.
Aniela Frey's flutes stood out. The harp and percussion did too. The brass were excellent in the third act, although the Intermezzo contained some early entries. Among the strings, Simon Veis made a impressive contribution with his cello solo.
Europa Press identified Luisotti's musical leadership as one of the basic features of the season opening. That judgment matches what was heard in the theatre.
Luisotti gives the Madrid ensemble a dependable musical engine. Wagner offers a stage picture that works, yet rarely challenges the audience.
The cast has talent and experience. The central roles do not always match the characters' dramatic age or vocal demands. The story comes from Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel. Three operatic versions appeared before Puccini's, making the lack of a fresh interpretive idea more noticeable.
This Manon Lescaut leaves a good impression after the curtain falls, but also suggests a theatre growing more comfortable with safe choices. Geronte may win in the drama. The production lets predictability beat invention too, leaving Puccini's young heroine to cross a desert without a convincing breath of fresh air.
