Sonya Yoncheva and Jonas Kaufmann will write a new page on Liceu's memory

“The prestige which covers an actress renders her the most dangerous woman one can imagine”
Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Du Théâtre, ou Nouvel essai sur l’art dramatique (1773) 

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In the 18th century, the French language had no greater ambassador than actress Adrienne Lecouvreur: sovereign of Voltaire’s tragedies, of Racine and Corneille’s verses and of the sung declamation of the Comédie-Française. Her life was short, as she died suddenly at the age of 38. Her love affair with Marshal Maurice de Saxe aroused the jealousy of the Duchess de Bouillon. An accident shrouded in mystery ensued, in which legend has it that a poisoned bouquet, offered by her rival, was the cause of her death. Jealousy, caused by fissures that are impossible to heal, is the powerful vehicle that unleashed this tragedy. The church’s refusal to give her a Christian burial shocked society of the time. 

In the heart of the 19th century, thanks to the theatrical work of Eugène Scribe and Gabriel Legouvé, the myth was adapted into an opera by Francesco Cilèa. Heir to the Italian Romantic tradition, the Calabrian composer offered musical verismo one of its most exciting melodramas, along the lines of the compositions of Mascagni, Leoncavallo and Giordano. 

Combining historical truth and tragic realism, Adriana Lecouvreur has never failed to expose on stage the noblest theatrical illusions along with real-life feelings. First performed in Milan in 1902, it is a favourite of audiences due to its melodic inventiveness and the elegance of the orchestral writing.  

Sonya Yoncheva and Jonas Kaufmann embody the couple in love, while de Bouillon is played by Anita Rachvelishvili and Michonet by Ambrogio Maestri. A quartet to do justice to a series of evenings that promise to be golden pages in the memory of this theatre and its audiences. 

With the support of:

Adriana Lecouvreur 

OPERA IN FOUR ACTS
Libretto by Arturo Colautti based on Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé’s Adríenne Lecouvreur
World premiere: 6/11/1902 at the Teatro Lirico in Milan
Barcelona premiere: 7/5/1903 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Last Liceu performance: 3/6/2012
Total number of Liceu performances: 41

Cast Change

Tenor Didier Pieri joins the cast in the role of Abate di Chauzeil, replacing Carlo Bosi.