NEW YORK (AP) – Roberto Alagna says he always makes a point of stepping forward after a performance to shake hands with the prompter. Never has he had more reason than in his current run of “Manon Lescaut” at the Metropolitan Opera.
When tenor Jonas Kaufmann announced he was canceling because of illness less than three weeks before opening night, the Met turned to Alagna to star in Puccini’s opera as the Chevalier des Grieux, a student who falls hopelessly in love with the flirtatious Manon.
Only one problem: Alagna had never sung the role.
“I read the score 10 years ago for a project in Torino,” he said during an interview in his dressing room after a performance. “But I didn’t really know it, and I never sang it.” An operation to remove a sinus tumor forced him to pull out of that production.
Once he signed on this time, he had four 12-hour days of studying, then five days working with the cast, including soprano Kristine Opolais in the title role, conductor Fabio Luisi and director Richard Eyre. “The dress rehearsal was the first time I sang the entire piece,” he said.