Opera Babes Leeds University and London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Knight, whose mother is the opera singer Gillian Knight, wrote for children's television early in her career. Both women have performed with the English touring company Opera della Luna and at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. They began busking together in 2001 on London's Covent Garden, where they were first spotted and were signed for their first album by Sony. They became famous for singing "Un bel dì vedremo" ("One fine day we shall see" from the opera "Madame Butterfly"), the song that ITV used for their World Cup
Manon Lescaut (Puccini) compositions for strings: the quartet "Crisantemi" (January 1890), three "Menuets" (probably 1884) and a "Scherzo" (1883?). The love theme comes from the aria "Mentia l'avviso" (1883). Puccini's publisher, Ricordi, had been against any project based on Prévost's story because Jules Massenet had already made it into a successful opera, "Manon", in 1884. While Puccini and Ricordi may not have known it, the French composer Daniel Auber had also already written an opera on the same subject with the title "Manon Lescaut", in 1856. Despite all the warnings, Puccini proceeded. "Manon is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot