Boulevard Solitude is a Lyrisches Drama (lyric drama) or opera in one act by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Grete Weil after the play by Walter Jockisch, in its turn a modern retelling of François Prévost‘s Manon Lescaut. The piece is a reworking of the Manon Lescaut story, already adapted operatically by Auber, Massenet and Puccini, and here relocated to Paris after the Second World War where, as is noted in Grove, the focus of the story moves away from Manon and towards Armand de Grieux.[1] It became Henze’s first fully-fledged opera.[1] The work stands out for its strong jazz influences, from a composer who had hitherto been associated with twelve tone technique.
The premiere was given on February 17, 1952, at the Landestheater, Hanover
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulevard_Solitude