The opera takes place in 18th century France. The famous actress Adriana Lecouvreur falls in love with the nobleman Maurizio. Jealousy and betrayal are unleashed when Maurizio's secret identity is revealed, leading Adriana to a tragic fate. The most eighteenth-century of the Teatro Real's seasons begins by evoking the figure of Adrienne Lecouvreur, leading actress of the Comédie-Française who died in 1730 in mysterious circumstances. A melodrama of jealousy and amorous revenge, Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur could be described as an Aida transposed to Louis XV's France, sustained by a score of refined Puccinian sonorities and enhanced by a poker of memorable soprano and tenor arias. A favourite of the great voices, this Adriana Lecouvreur is also a tribute to Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras, on the 50th anniversary of their legendary performance of this title at the Teatro de la Zarzuela.

Adriana Lecouvreur will take to the stage of the Real in David McVicar's rapturous and sumptuous period production, which since its premiere in 2010, has taken the world's leading theatres by storm, and summoned the most spectacular casts of the last decade.