Les dialogues des carmelites "Final Scene" by Poulenc

[LoudCitizen]

Can anyone give background to the significance of the last nun changing the hymn/prayer from one addressed to Mary (Salve Regina) to one addressing the Father (Deo Patria)?

[StCorentin]

@LoudCitizen

It's from another pray : Veni Creator, last sentence ;

Deo Patri sit gloria,

Et Filio, qui a mortuis

Surrexit, ac Paraclito

In saeculorum saecula.

Amen.

[mozarthaydn]

I always cry at 6:05...

[FredricEric]

@mozarthaydn Me too. The return of Blanche in this scene is one of the greatest pieces in opera literature. Regards from Stockholm

[FruitMeate]

I first heard this at the end of a class, and none of us were even able to say anything afterward. This music is just too crushing to respond to.

[Canuckoperafan]

Poulenc was born on this day (Jan. 7) 112 years ago, and the opera world has him to thank for creating this magnificent opera. This is an incredible production from Opera national du Rhin with many marvelous performances, particularly Anne Sophie Schmidt (Blanche) whom incidentally I saw in this role in Toronto; Valerie Millot a Mme Lidoine of great warmth and inner strength, and Patricia Petibon a truly angelic Constance. An unforgettable performance that brings tears to ones eyes.

[Zofzoeif]

C'est tout simplement sublime. Merci !

[spassgrl]

Gives me goosebumps every time...With this version, I really like the minimalistic imagery but the incredibly rich depth of the music.

[TheCatholicFaithfu]

The movie was a bit more true to the story, in the way that each nun came to the mother superior with, "Permission to die?"

[papoocanada]

.......un bon coup de hache sur la nuque, et pan!

c'est beau, pas cher , y a pas de décors.

[monteverdi1567]

wonderful performance-- the clarity of the orchestral parts is quite amazing. Good recording process.

[k6l11h58]

Performance by:

Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg

Dirigent: Jan Latham- Koenig

Regie: Marthe Keller

Koor van de Opéra National du Rhin,

Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg

I have it on DVD. a haunting performance.....

[SocratusAccusatusEst]

Splendide mise en scène... J'adore, et m.... à ceux qui boudent leur plaisir. Que leur faut-il quand la musique se suffit à elle-même ? Pas besoin d'en rajouter, hein.

[mocotcel]

Whose performance is this?

[woolypup]

could be Kent Nagano/Paris

the Guillotine is really an amplified paper cutter

[ttlms]

Opera du Rhin production, 1999

[lectocom]

I think this version is hauntingly powerful — especially with the contrast between the nuns' serenity and the facial closeups and bodily convulsions at the moment of sudden brutal death. The split-second timing of physical and facial gestures with the sound of the guillotine is brilliantly dramatic.

[rexeterna]

what a boring and unoriginal ending. just dropping on the floor? come on.

[ttlms]

I agree with lectocom. Dropping to the floor is what death is like.

[Jaydoggy531]

It is original, and definitely shows the brutality of the reign of terror with bodies just littering the ground like they were nothing. I don't find it boring: but I think it's more effective to see them either walk off or actually walk to the guillotine one by one. What I especially don't like though is not seeing the crowd - part of the dramatic effect is the fact they're being PUBLICLY humiliated.

[Aquired2]

That, my friend, is called the power of imagination.

[smokinghole]

:-((

[lessagaudier]

ici l'opéra renoue avec la pureté de la tragédie antique. Mais ce ne sont plus les dieux qui écrasent et qui tuent. Ce sont les hommes qu ituent celles qui se vouent aux dieux.

[FidoGB]

I have to rate the finale of Dialogues des Carmelites as one of my favourite endings to any opera.....there's such potential for it to disaterously wrong and be unintetionally funny as all those nuns get beheaded...

[giloubreizh]

même quand le doute m'assaille, il se pare de roses.

[basenjidiva]

When Zeani was asked whether she felt fear at the end of this opera, she responded, "No. Ecstasy!"

Poulenc, the composer of the opera, personally requested Zeani to perform the role of Blanche! Some compliment!

She is unparalleled in vocality, interpretive powers, and beauty!

Thank you for this posting.

Brava, Virginia!

[sirmercutio99]

Are the two last singers sisters. (I mean real life sisters cause they look similar. Also is this on DVD and where was it produced?

[daniel0azar]

This is the most awesome production of the Dialogues' Finale I've ever seen!

[aldochef]

Es una montaje fuera de lo tradicional que juega con la iluminacion y la imaginacion.. Tiempo atras vi uno similar el la opera de sevilla . Exelente Version!.

[tenore23]

Funny how the Mets productions is dismissed here in favor of this "striking staging" What the directors didn't tell you is that that groundbreaking image of all the nuns on the floor in the cross position is the same that the Met's production uses at the beginning of the opera.

Yes, these directors copied an image that has been used at the Met for 30+ years. Not that ground breaking if you ask me.

Speaks to the Met's production that 30 years after its premiere directors are still copying it.

[ivanofna]

They are not really in a cross position, are they. They are more, distributed unevenly, as corpses would be in a mass grave. Its definetly more striking in its minimalism and cruel sound.

[MarkoKassenaar]

Is is already much better than the ghastly Met-production....does anyone have a posting of the Amsterdam production of 2002? That was perhaps the most minimalistic but most striking production ever. Robert Carson was the director and Yves Abel the conductor

[MusicaParola]

Perhaps the most chilling musical setting of the Salve Regina (with the additional Deo patri sit gloria at the end); excellent mise en scène, fitting perfectly with the ominous sound of the guillotine. This French opera is a masterpiece, oddly having its premiere in Italian at La Scala, with Gencer, Cossotto, the veteran Gianna Pederzini, and Zeani. There is a live recording of this premiere performance, which is incredible.

[zamolxis7]

Can you post it?

[MusicaParola]

Alas, I can't.

[zamolxis7]

Zeani played wich part?

[MusicaParola]

She played Denise Duval. You can find the entire cast and further information by googling Dialogues des Carmelites.

[altodivo]

How can she *play* Denise Duval, when Denise Duval is a singer herself?!

[MusicaParola]

That is very funny. I had to laugh at myself. I should have written Blanche de la Force, not Denise Duval. Miss Duval played the same role (Blanche) in the June 21, 1957 Paris première.

[Jitpring]

@MusicaParola I just watched this opera for the first time on DVD, conducted by Muti and starring Schellenberger et al.

Devastating.

[MariaCaIIas]

@MusicaParola the premier at La Scala is not too odd... actually the composer had expressed the wish that the piece be translated and sung in the language of the country it is performed...

Funnily enough I saw the piece at La Scala some years ago performed in French with Muti conducting... it was so shockingly beautiful that I did not even cry but just sat there in awe unable to react....