Carmelites by Poulenc at Champs Elysées
PARIS: Before Christmas, Theatre des Champs Elysées is continuing its creativity, this time by presenting a new production of Francis Poulenc´opera Les Dialogues des Carmélites, in a staging by Olivier Py, and conducted by Jérémie Rhorer, the Philharmonia Orchestra, with Sophie K0ch as Mère Marie, Patricia Petibon – as Blanche de la Force, Veronique Gens as Madame de Lidoine, and Sandrine Piau as Sister Constanze, the leading female roles.
Jérémie Rhorer direction
Olivier Py mise en scène
Pierre-André Weitz décors et costumes
Bertrand Killy lumières
Presented by Tomas Bagackas, foto: Vincent Pontet.
Dialogues des carmélites (Dialogues of the Carmelites) is a 1956 French-language opera in twelve scenes and several orchestral interludes, grouped into three acts, by Francis Poulenc. It is the composer’s second opera; he wrote the libretto himself after a scheme by Georges Bernanos. Its première took place (in anItalian translation) in January 1957 at Teatro alle Scala in Milano; French and American premières followed the same year.
The opera has been widely praised, and opera historian Charles Osborne reflected on it saying “The inexorable dramatic movement of the work is impressive and, in the final scene in which the nuns walk in procession to the guillotine chanting the Salve regina, extremely moving. Poulenc also found an easy and effective style to which to carry forward without monotony the scenes of convent life.”
Poulenc acknowledged his debt to Mussorgsky, Monteverdi, Verdi, and Debussy in the dedication of this opera but still felt apologetic about the opera’s conservative harmonic language saying “You must forgive my Carmelites. It seems they can only sing tonal music.” Opera historians, such as Anthony Tommasini,(chief music critic for The New York Times) feel there is nothing to be ashamed of, saying the “subtle and intricate tonal language is by turns hymnal and haunting. Though scored for a large orchestra, the instruments are often used in smaller groups selected for particular effects and colorings. The most distinctive element of the score, though, is its wonderfuly natural vocal writing, which capture the rhythms and lyrical flow of the libertto in eloquent music that hardly calls attention to itself yet lingers with you.”
Kulturkompasset chef critic, Henning Høholt, has reviewed Les Dialogues des Carmelites in several productions, please enjoy his reviews at The Royal Opera in Copenhagen, with students from the Opera Academy:
In Stockholm: http://www.kulturkompasset.com/2011/10/dialogues-of-the-carmelites-stockholm/
And in Oslo with Ragnhild Heiland Sørensen as a wonderful Blanche.
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist, and a member of the French group Les Six. He composed art song, solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music.
Le Groupe des six, 1921 painting by Jacques-Emilie-Blanche.
In the center: pianist Marcelle Meyer. On the left, from bottom to top: Germaine Tailleferre, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Louis Durey. On the right, standing Francis Poulenc, Jean Cocteau; and seated Georges Auric.
Poulencs three operas and more:
Although the score of his only opera bouffe, Les mamelles de Tirésias (“Tiresias’ Breasts”, after Guillaume Apollinaire´s surrealist drama) was completed in 1945, it was not performed until 1947, after Poulenc met soprano Denise Duval. She also sang the roles of Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites (1956) and Elle in La voix humaine (1958). The song cycle La courte paille was written for her (and her child) in 1960, and La dame de Monte Carlo in 1961.
Poulenc’s compositions continued, including chansons accompanied on the piano, choral music, secular (Huit chansons françaises, 1945) and religious (Stabat Mater, 1950) works, orchestral pieces (Sinfonietta, 1947), chamber music (particularly for wind instruments), works for one or two pianos such as L’embarquement pour Cythère, a valse musette (1951).
He also composed film music, including La Duchesse de Langeais (1942) and Jean Anouilh’s Le voyageur sans bagage.
Between 1947 and 1949, he became a radio host for À bâtons rompus. His choice of music was very diverse, including many pieces from the French repertoire.
He gave the first of his many concerts in the United States in 1948 with Pierre Bernac. During his time in the US, he met the American soprano Leontyne Price, who sang his chansons, and the composer Samuel Barber. His Mélodies passagères were performed in Paris in February 1952 by their dedicatees, Bernac and Poulenc.
GAY INSPIRATION
Some writers consider Poulenc one of the first openly gay composers
During the late 1920s Poulenc first acted on his homosexuality when he met painter Richard Chanlaire, who became his lover. Poulenc’s second lover, the bisexual Raymond Destouches, was a chauffeur and dedicatee of several of Poulenc’s compositions.
Poulenc would later have a brief affair with a woman known as Frédérique and have a daughter by her in 1946. They did not marry. In a tour of the United States Poulenc met a friendly gay couple, Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale, accomplished duo pianists who commissioned the Sonata for Two Pianos(1953). Poulenc found tours difficult, because they separated him from Lucien Roubert, his lover who died of pleurisy in 1955,
In 1953, Poulenc started working on what was to become the opera Dialogues des carmélites based on a story by Georges Bernanos. Poulenc soon became obsessed with this work.
He likened the sad fate of Blanche de la Force to the long agony of his boyfriend Lucien Roubert, a travelling salesman (1909–55) who died on the same day as Poulenc finished the piano version of the Dialogues. Poulenc adapted Bernanos’ text for the libretto
.
The opera was first performed at La Scala in Italian, in January 1957 with Virginia Zeani singing the principal soprano role of Blanche.
In June 1957, it was produced at the Paris Opera with Denise Duval as Blanche and Régine Crespin as Madame Lidoine. In September of that year, it was produced in the USA with Leontyne Price as Mme Lidoine; this was her first stage opera.
He followed the opera with La voix humaine (1958), a lyric tragedy based on Jean Cocteau´s play
. It was dedicated to Poulenc’s last lover, Louis Gautier (a manual worker he met in 1957); they stayed together until Poulenc died.