thumb|280px|Final scene of the first La Scala production, 1956-57

' (, Dialogues of the Carmelites), FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. Poulenc wrote the libretto for his second opera after the work of the same name by Georges Bernanos, itself based on The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud von Le Fort. This is a fictionalized version of the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, Carmelite nuns who, in 1794 during the closing days of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, were guillotined in Paris for refusing to renounce their vocation.

The world première of the opera occurred (in Italian translation) on 26 January 1957 at La Scala in Milan. The première of the French-language version took place in Paris on 21 June 1957. The United States première, in English, followed in San Francisco in September 1957.

Development

Bernanos had been hired in 1947 to write the dialogue for a film screenplay, through Raymond Léopold Bruckberger and the scenario writer Philippe Agostini, based on the novella ' (literal translation, The Last on the Scaffold, or Song at the Scaffold, the published title of the English translation) by Gertrud von Le Fort. The novella is based on the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne at the monastery of Carmelite nuns in Compiègne, northern France, in the wake of the French Revolution, specifically in 1794 at the time of state seizure of the monastery's assets. It traces a fictional path from 1789 up to these events, when nuns of the Carmelite Order were guillotined.

The screenplay was judged unsatisfactory for a film. Bernanos died on 5 July 1948. Subsequently, his literary executor, Albert Béguin, found this manuscript. To assist Bernanos' surviving family, Béguin sought to have the work published, and requested permission from von Le Fort for publication. In January 1949, she agreed, and donated her portion of the royalties due to her, as creator of the original story, over to Bernanos' widow and children. However, von Le Fort requested that the Bernanos work be titled differently from her own novella. Béguin chose Dialogues des Carmélites as the title for the Bernanos work, which was published in 1949. A German translation of the work, ' (The Blessed Fear), was published in 1951, and Zurich and Munich saw productions of Die begnadete Angst that year. The French stage premiere was by Jacques Hébertot in May 1952 at the Théâtre Hébertot.

The genesis of the opera was in 1953. Margarita Wallmann took her husband Guido Valcarenghi, president of Ricordi, which was Poulenc's publishing firm, to see the Bernanos play in Vienna. She had asked Poulenc to write an oratorio for her; through the commission from Ricordi, he developed the work as the opera. Poulenc then resumed work on the opera, and completed it October 1955.

At this time, Poulenc had recommitted himself to spirituality and Roman Catholicism, although he was openly gay and the church officially opposed homosexuality. Opera critic Alan Rich believes that Poulenc's concern for the travails of post-World War II France, as it tried to reconcile issues related to the Holocaust, German occupation and the Resistance, was a subtext within the opera. Wallmann worked closely with Poulenc during the composition process and in evolving the structure, as well as later when she re-staged the production in other theatres.

: "Poulenc's 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 wonderfully natural vocal writing, which captures the rhythms and lyrical flow of the libretto in eloquent music that hardly calls attention to itself yet lingers with you."

Opera historian Charles Osborne wrote:

Performance history

Poulenc expressed a general wish that the opera be performed in the vernacular of the local audience. Thus the opera was first performed in an Italian translation at La Scala on 26 January 1957, with Romanian soprano Virginia Zeani in the role of Blanche. The original French version premiered on 21 June that year by the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris (the current Opéra National de Paris), where Poulenc had chosen the Paris cast, which included Denise Duval (Blanche de la Force), Régine Crespin (Madame Lidoine), Rita Gorr (Mother Marie), and Liliane Berton (Sister Constance). The Metropolitan Opera first staged the opera in 1977, in a production by John Dexter, sung in the English translation of Joseph Machlis. The 1980 revival of this production utilised the original French text. Subsequent performances, until 2013, were generally sung in the English translation. From 2013 revivals of this production used the original French text, with the 2019 series included as part of the Live in HD cinema series for that season.

The opera is among a comparatively small number of post-Puccini works that have never lost their place in the international repertory.

  • Anne-Sophie Schmidt, Patricia Petibon, Nadine Denize, Laurence Dale, et al.; Chorus of the Opera National du Rhin and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg; Jan Latham-Koenig, conductor; Marthe Keller, director (Arthaus, 1998)
  • Dagmar Schellenberger, Anja Silja, Barbara Dever, Laura Aikin, Gwynne Geyer, Gordon Gietz, Christopher Robertson, Mario Bolognesi, et al., Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan; Riccardo Muti, conductor; Robert Carsen, director (TDK, 2007)
  • Alexia Voulgaridou, Kathryn Harries, Anne Schwanewilms, Gabriele Schnaut, Jana Büchner, Nikolai Schlkoff, Wolfgang Schöne, et al.; Hamburg Philharmonic and Chorus of the Hamburg State Opera; Simone Young, conductor; Nikolaus Lehnhoff, director (Arthaus, 2010)
  • Susan Gritton, Sylvie Brunet, Soile Isokoski, Susanne Resmark, Hélène Guilmette, Bernard Richter, Alain Vernhes, et al., Bavarians State Orchestra and Chorus; Kent Nagano, conductor; Dmitri Tcherniakov, director (Bel Air Classiques, 2011)
  • Véronique Gens, Sophie Koch, Sandrine Piau, Patricia Petibon, Rosalind Plowright, Topi Lehtipuu, et al.; Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Jérémie Rhorer, conductor; Olivier Py, director (Erato, 2014)

References

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