'Dialogues Des Carmelites' is not only my personal favourite Poulenc work, but also one of the greatest operas of the twentieth century. Its story and characters, based on French Revolution history, are riveting and the music beautiful with the most moving final scene in all of opera.
Having seen almost all the productions available on DVD, this reviewer had not seen one that she disliked. Until now, with this bizarre production directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov. It may work for some people, apart from being top-notch musically it did nothing for me.
Starting with the good points, as aforementioned, it's top-notch musically. The orchestra have so much power and nuance in their playing, perfect for the mix of intensity and lyricism present in Poulenc's music. Who better to conduct it than Kent Nagano? He conducts with such authority because is also so sympathetic towards the drama. Under him, the orchestra and the cast as well manage to stage and colour their music beautifully, the ambiguities of the opera coming out warmly and with great humanity. The chorus work for the nuns and crowd similarly sounds absolutely great, the crowd is quite terrifying and the nuns sing and act with great sincerity, never singing in static straight lines, instead interacting with each other in a way that makes the staging more interesting than it deserved to be.
The cast are super too, with Susan Gritton's moving but never passive Blanche (at no point does she does taxed either, and her music is not easy), Soile Isokoski who brings out Madame Lidoine's (or New Prioress) earthy humour when first introduced and poignant sincerity in the prison scene superbly and Sylvie Brunet's incredibly powerful (especially in her huge death scene, and she sounds fresher than most in the role too) Madame De Croissy (or Old Prioress). Susanne Resmark is dogmatic and sympathetic as Mere Marie and Helene Guilmette charming as Constance. The marquis, priest, commissioner and Chevalier are very solidly sung and acted. The interaction between all the principals shows a great deal of commitment, which showed great courage to do so considering what they had to work with. The sound quality on the DVD is excellent.
Unfortunately, the production really does not appeal visually. It looks too sparse, bleak and claustrophobic, and the crossbeams and gauze screen are incredibly distracting, not only taking away from the atmosphere when watching it on DVD (as there is a haziness and blurriness often) but also becoming an obstacle for the singers. The biggest problem is Tcherniakov's stage direction. Don't have a problem with non-traditional production and concept productions, but only if they are interesting and respect the libretto and opera. Tcherniakov's stage direction does neither of those. For all the cast's superb efforts, the drama is not riveting, often confused to the point of rendering the story hard to follow or emotionally charged (only the Old Prioress' death scene evokes any kind of genuine feeling dramatically) and apart from Poulenc's music you could have sworn it was another opera entirely, that's how unrecognisable it was with his specific directions practically ignored.
The directions don't match the libretto which as said has very specific stage directions throughout (speaking as somebody who has performed in a production of this opera. Especially in the martyrdom and final scenes. They are also silly (like the commissioner scene or Mere Marie stripping), pointless (particularly a much unneeded silent scene with the nuns) and illogical (pretty much the whole production), and there is the oddest staging of the Ave Maria I've ever seen. 'Dialogues Des Carmelites' is also a very religious opera, you wouldn't think so watching this production because that is completely lost. But the biggest disappointment was the final scene. It is for me the most moving final scene in all of opera and seemed like a scene that would be impossible to ruin. Tcherniakov manages to do that with a staging so bizarre, so against what actually did happen in the opera and in history and so clumsily done that it was offensive. Despite the fine musical values in this opera the staging totally sucks the emotion of the scene.
Overall, as much as it pains me to say this, this production of 'Dialogues Des Carmelites' has much to enjoy musically but the bizarreness and near-offensiveness of the staging completely spoilt things. 4/10 for the musical values only. Bethany Cox
Having seen almost all the productions available on DVD, this reviewer had not seen one that she disliked. Until now, with this bizarre production directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov. It may work for some people, apart from being top-notch musically it did nothing for me.
Starting with the good points, as aforementioned, it's top-notch musically. The orchestra have so much power and nuance in their playing, perfect for the mix of intensity and lyricism present in Poulenc's music. Who better to conduct it than Kent Nagano? He conducts with such authority because is also so sympathetic towards the drama. Under him, the orchestra and the cast as well manage to stage and colour their music beautifully, the ambiguities of the opera coming out warmly and with great humanity. The chorus work for the nuns and crowd similarly sounds absolutely great, the crowd is quite terrifying and the nuns sing and act with great sincerity, never singing in static straight lines, instead interacting with each other in a way that makes the staging more interesting than it deserved to be.
The cast are super too, with Susan Gritton's moving but never passive Blanche (at no point does she does taxed either, and her music is not easy), Soile Isokoski who brings out Madame Lidoine's (or New Prioress) earthy humour when first introduced and poignant sincerity in the prison scene superbly and Sylvie Brunet's incredibly powerful (especially in her huge death scene, and she sounds fresher than most in the role too) Madame De Croissy (or Old Prioress). Susanne Resmark is dogmatic and sympathetic as Mere Marie and Helene Guilmette charming as Constance. The marquis, priest, commissioner and Chevalier are very solidly sung and acted. The interaction between all the principals shows a great deal of commitment, which showed great courage to do so considering what they had to work with. The sound quality on the DVD is excellent.
Unfortunately, the production really does not appeal visually. It looks too sparse, bleak and claustrophobic, and the crossbeams and gauze screen are incredibly distracting, not only taking away from the atmosphere when watching it on DVD (as there is a haziness and blurriness often) but also becoming an obstacle for the singers. The biggest problem is Tcherniakov's stage direction. Don't have a problem with non-traditional production and concept productions, but only if they are interesting and respect the libretto and opera. Tcherniakov's stage direction does neither of those. For all the cast's superb efforts, the drama is not riveting, often confused to the point of rendering the story hard to follow or emotionally charged (only the Old Prioress' death scene evokes any kind of genuine feeling dramatically) and apart from Poulenc's music you could have sworn it was another opera entirely, that's how unrecognisable it was with his specific directions practically ignored.
The directions don't match the libretto which as said has very specific stage directions throughout (speaking as somebody who has performed in a production of this opera. Especially in the martyrdom and final scenes. They are also silly (like the commissioner scene or Mere Marie stripping), pointless (particularly a much unneeded silent scene with the nuns) and illogical (pretty much the whole production), and there is the oddest staging of the Ave Maria I've ever seen. 'Dialogues Des Carmelites' is also a very religious opera, you wouldn't think so watching this production because that is completely lost. But the biggest disappointment was the final scene. It is for me the most moving final scene in all of opera and seemed like a scene that would be impossible to ruin. Tcherniakov manages to do that with a staging so bizarre, so against what actually did happen in the opera and in history and so clumsily done that it was offensive. Despite the fine musical values in this opera the staging totally sucks the emotion of the scene.
Overall, as much as it pains me to say this, this production of 'Dialogues Des Carmelites' has much to enjoy musically but the bizarreness and near-offensiveness of the staging completely spoilt things. 4/10 for the musical values only. Bethany Cox
