I don't know how can you joke about the unjust beheading of 17 women. I have finished watching the 1960 film (based on the novel) just 30 minutes ago and it was great.
Joking about everything doesn't leave you mental clarity to appreciate things higher than you.
@luischavezhartley It brought tears to my eyes...and i couldn't understand a word! I just finished reading " Song at the Scaffold" for the umpteenth time!
It's one of the best operas! The story is absolutely shocking and the last scene is a killer!
The background of the opera is also a difficult one. The libretist was dying of cancer when he wrote the libreto and Poulenc's boyfriend was dying while he was composing this masterpiece. Needless to say all the nuns in the opera die and Poulen'c boyfriend died shortly after the opera was finished....
If you see a good production it's worth all the money!
Its an very beautiful opera indeed. The simple (but difficult) orcherstration, the few man, the nuns, the woman, the sensational end. It is very moving. I was some years ago in Rockamadour in France and there we met for the first time this Francis Poulenc, because a mainstreet at the chapell was called his name. I became curious and so we found this most beautiful Dialoque des Carmelites. So modern, so traditional, so original, so sereen. A great surprise for me.
I saw this opera in madrid. It was a great production . . .if you see a good production its much more powerfull. This is the only opera that poulenc wrote.
it actually takes place during the reign of terror and in the end these nuns get martyred for their beliefs ... its a true story in the end they sing walking towards the scaffold to their death.... (something like that, i've never actually seen it)
It is really not a laugh, as the nuns are beheaded at the end (it is quite eerie, with them singing a Salve Regina, as one by one the voices drop off, and you hear the blade slide down). The other poster was mistaken, as it is based on a novel (although religious orders were certainly targets during the revolution).
You're both right. The opera is based on a novel, but the novel is based on a true story of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne guillotined July 17, 1794, though the opera's (and novel's) leading character, Blanche, is purely fictional. A very powerful piece (I saw it at Lyric Opera of Chicago last week.)
Another poster is mistaken, though, in saying it's Poulenc's only opera. He also wrote "Les mamelles de Tirésias" and "La voix humaine".
I saw "Les mamelles de Tiresias" once in a small production years ago. I also saw the Lyric's "Dialogue" this season (I was familiar with it from a recording, but it was my first time to see it produced; I found it a bit tiresome). Thanks for the comment.
Check out the Met's finale of Dialogue with Jessye Norman.
Makes me tear up every time I watch it, which is rather unusual for me.
erinmalcorn 11 months ago
Sound quality could be a little better (granted it's a stage performance), but awesome.
redconversetheorem 1 year ago
I don't know how can you joke about the unjust beheading of 17 women. I have finished watching the 1960 film (based on the novel) just 30 minutes ago and it was great.
Joking about everything doesn't leave you mental clarity to appreciate things higher than you.
luischavezhartley 4 years ago 18
Jesus Christ, calm down. The guy probably didn't even get your response.
Tomcatfalsto 3 years ago
@luischavezhartley It brought tears to my eyes...and i couldn't understand a word! I just finished reading " Song at the Scaffold" for the umpteenth time!
isabellemarie89 11 months ago
It's one of the best operas! The story is absolutely shocking and the last scene is a killer!
The background of the opera is also a difficult one. The libretist was dying of cancer when he wrote the libreto and Poulenc's boyfriend was dying while he was composing this masterpiece. Needless to say all the nuns in the opera die and Poulen'c boyfriend died shortly after the opera was finished....
If you see a good production it's worth all the money!
amballa 4 years ago 8
Its an very beautiful opera indeed. The simple (but difficult) orcherstration, the few man, the nuns, the woman, the sensational end. It is very moving. I was some years ago in Rockamadour in France and there we met for the first time this Francis Poulenc, because a mainstreet at the chapell was called his name. I became curious and so we found this most beautiful Dialoque des Carmelites. So modern, so traditional, so original, so sereen. A great surprise for me.
Hans NL
qklq42 3 years ago 3
I saw this opera in madrid. It was a great production . . .if you see a good production its much more powerfull. This is the only opera that poulenc wrote.
chemeche 5 years ago
sorry but Poulenc wrote also
Les Mamelles de Tirésias
and
La Voix Humaine
StCorentin 4 years ago
what are u sorry about?
magpie4321 3 years ago
lol... A Carmelite sister I know will at least get a laugh when I tell her there's an opera about the order.
What was the actual plot of the opera?
PraiseDivineMercy 5 years ago
it actually takes place during the reign of terror and in the end these nuns get martyred for their beliefs ... its a true story in the end they sing walking towards the scaffold to their death.... (something like that, i've never actually seen it)
talili87 5 years ago
It is really not a laugh, as the nuns are beheaded at the end (it is quite eerie, with them singing a Salve Regina, as one by one the voices drop off, and you hear the blade slide down). The other poster was mistaken, as it is based on a novel (although religious orders were certainly targets during the revolution).
vkaminsky 4 years ago
Thanks, I hope I can see the whole opera some day.
PraiseDivineMercy 4 years ago
You're both right. The opera is based on a novel, but the novel is based on a true story of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne guillotined July 17, 1794, though the opera's (and novel's) leading character, Blanche, is purely fictional. A very powerful piece (I saw it at Lyric Opera of Chicago last week.)
Another poster is mistaken, though, in saying it's Poulenc's only opera. He also wrote "Les mamelles de Tirésias" and "La voix humaine".
Llednew 4 years ago 2
I saw "Les mamelles de Tiresias" once in a small production years ago. I also saw the Lyric's "Dialogue" this season (I was familiar with it from a recording, but it was my first time to see it produced; I found it a bit tiresome). Thanks for the comment.
vkaminsky 4 years ago