El Liceu turns Manon Lescaut into a migrant drama with Asmik Grigorian

The Liceu transforms Manon Lescaut into a migrant drama and brings it into Barcelona's major opera festival

From 17 March, the Gran Teatre del Liceu presents one of its season's boldest productions: an updated Manon Lescaut that moves Puccini's plot to contemporary Europe and turns the protagonist into an undocumented immigrant forced to flee war and poverty. Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian leads an international cast in this staging by Àlex Ollé, with musical direction by Josep Pons. The work forms part of the Barcelona Obertura Ciutat de Clàssica festival, which brings together 52 concerts and more than 500 artists across the city.

An opera turned into a mirror of the present

Ollé, a founding member of La Fura dels Baus, has conceived the production as a story about migration and exploitation. The action unfolds in contemporary settings: a bus carriage, a pole-dancing club, prison cells and a desert symbolising the final border. The prologue shows Manon and her brother Lescaut crossing a border fence and working in a clandestine workshop. The Liceu's artistic director, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, stresses that the production shows how love and the search for a better future intertwine in a world marked by insecurity.

On stage, gigantic letters forming the word LOVE accompany the four acts and recall the story's central thread. Ollé himself explains that he moved the plot to the present because Manon's absolute love — the desire not to give up on her future — fits perfectly with the journey of a young immigrant. Asmik Grigorian, for her part, says that identifying with this contemporary heroine helps her connect with younger audiences.

Cast, substitutions and streaming premiere

Alongside Grigorian, American singer Joshua Guerrero was due to play Des Grieux, but Russian tenor Ivan Gyngazov will replace him in the performances on 17 and 20 March because of Guerrero's vocal problems. The cast is completed by baritone Iurii Samoilov as Lescaut and bass Donato Di Stefano as Geronte. Subscribers to the LiceuOPERA+ platform will be able to enjoy the digital premiere from 19 April, extending the production's reach beyond the six in-person performances.

As well as its artistic impact, the production strengthens the Liceu's position on the international cultural scene. Ollé, who has received the Ópera XXI award for best stage direction and the theatre's own Gold Medal, works alongside set designer Alfons Flores and costume designer Lluc Castells, who have also been recognised for their work. The collaboration between these creators turns the opera into a work of total theatre, in which Puccini's music combines with cinematic staging and a highly contemporary social message.

Importance for Barcelona and its audiences

The reinvention of Manon Lescaut arrives at a time when Barcelona is seeking to consolidate its position as a leading cultural destination. The Barcelona Obertura festival, supported by the City Council and Turisme de Barcelona, not only brings figures such as Grigorian and Martha Argerich to the city but also offers a circuit of free concerts across ten districts. The Liceu, a cultural icon of La Rambla, thus becomes a space that engages with issues such as migration, inequality and the search for a future, addressing a city that lives with these phenomena every day.

This blend of tradition and current concerns, of classical opera and contemporary storytelling, promises to attract both longstanding enthusiasts and new audiences. In a diverse Barcelona, Ollé and Grigorian's migrant Manon not only shakes up tradition; she also reminds us that opera can be a vibrant mirror of our times.