Dialogues des Carmélites

Dialogues Des Carmelites is my favourite Poulenc work, it is one of the 20th century greatest operas with an interesting, if lengthy, story, based on the story of the Carmelite nuns in the French Revolution (their execution via guillotine and martyrdom contributing towards the end of the Revolution), and some of the most beautiful and dramatic music Poulenc ever wrote. It is also notable for the truly moving final scene, no ending of any other operas moves me more than the ending of Dialogues Des Carmelites (when the conservatoire did it a year ago, people were including me sobbing in the wings once we were killed off and in rehearsals) not even La Boheme.

While not the best production of the opera on DVD, the 1999 production with Patricia Petibon and Anne-Sophie Schmidt gets that honours, this is a solid production and musically near-perfect. The stage net is a little too obvious in places and the final scene does work better when the nuns walk dignified one by one or in pairs into the wings, it did look a little clumsy at first but it did grow on me and certainly did not hamper the music or performances at all, the whole scene was so musically powerful and earth-shatteringly moving (with the sounds of the guillotine providing genuine chills) that any reservations at first became less of a hindrance.

The nuns are sometimes in long lines just standing there, like a chorus , and it is not very involving (our drama teacher calls it 1940s schlock). The only major problem with the production actually is Gabriele Schnaut as Mere Marie, a dogmatic role that Schnaut performs very stolidly and without any real engagement or convincing interaction with the rest of the cast. Even worse is her voice, it never was a pleasant sound and it is the ugliest I've heard her, with an over-excessive wobble making every single note sound flat (especially at the top), a throaty basic sound , mostly unintelligible French and very strident phrasing.

Visually, the minimalist look was quite effective and fitted well with the darkness and austerity of the opera. The imaginative lighting makes it more interesting than it could have been, it could have been cold and barren but was actually quite atmospheric. The costumes are also appropriate, with the sole exceptions of the Marquis and Chevalier, who look like gentlemen from a century too late. Nikolaus Lehnhoff is an interesting and mostly tasteful director (though with instances of questionable touches), as far as I can recall the only production that didn't work from personal opinion was his 2008 Tannhauser.

Here, Lehnhoff rarely makes the action static and never distasteful, making the nuns actually look like prisoners in the prison scene and the interaction between characters is mostly great, Blanche and Constance's scenes together are a breath of fresh air and Madame De Croissy's (or the Old Prioress) death scene is extraordinarily powerful. Most of the characters are interesting and play to the performer's strengths, Blanche could have been passive easily who couldn't make her mind up but actually is a character we care about and one who grows. Despite initial reservations the final scene is very moving, only the scene between the officer and Mere Marie lacks tension and that is mostly down to Schnaut above all else.

Musically, there is very little to fault. The orchestral playing is superb, with great dramatic intensity and beautiful tone. The nuns sing with a well-balanced blend and have expressive faces that make up for their not always interesting stage direction that doesn't quite allow them to become individual characters (apart from Mere Matilde and Mere Jeanne), which gets much better when things become intense later on in the second and third acts. The crowd chorus are suitably intimidating. Simone Young's conducting is sympathetic and dramatically alert, especially in the latter parts. Talking briefly about technical values, apart from some dotty image, it is well video-directed and the sound has crystalline clarity. The performances, with the exception of Schnaut are very strong.

Particularly good are Alexia Voulgaridou's poignant and truly beautifully sung Blanche, Anne Schwanewilms' noble Madame Lidoine who has a lovely sound and doesn't have a problem with the long lines and Kathryn Harries who does an outstanding job with her death scene, giving the scene emotional depth and a thrilling voice. Jana Büchner is a real charmer as Constance and never sounds shrill, and her role is often written in the high tessitura, Wolfgang Schöne is a suitably anguished Marquis and copes very well with the difficult timing and pitch of his music and Nikolai Schukoff commands the stage very well especially in his big scene with Blanche and even with his very baritonal sound never sounds strained at the top (managing even a heart—melting pianissimo).

All in all, very solid production and musically it's near-perfect. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox