Dialogues des Carmélites

In the organizer's words:

Opera by Francis Poulenc

Libretto by the composer after Georges Bernanos, based on the novella "Die Letzte am Schafott" by Gertrud von Le Fort / in French with German surtitles

Francis Poulenc's tragic opera in three acts, first performed at La Scala in Milan in 1957, is one of the most important works of 20th century musical theater. Based on the true story of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, "Dialogues des Carmélites" tells of social abysses and the importance of the basic values of democratic coexistence - and culminates in a finale that is musically one of the most emotional that opera has to offer.

Blanche de la Force suffers from chronic anxiety. Her search for peace of mind leads her to the convent of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, where she is caught up in the reality of the French Revolution: She just manages to escape before the convent is dissolved by the Revolutionary Guards and her nuns are arrested - they face the death penalty. When Blanche learns of this, she rushes to Revolution Square, where she gives up her freedom and her life and follows her sisters to the guillotine.

Dialogues des Carmélites" reflects the question of the stability of society's basic values, which is not only posed with regard to the "Grande Terreur". The fate of the Carmelites shows how quickly supposedly stable societies can turn into violence-driven systems. A recurring phenomenon that not only runs like a fateful thread through the 20th century, but also concerns us today on an almost daily basis.

Francis Poulenc makes the radical emotions of his characters, from fear to arrogance, tangible in his music: with the help of his large orchestra - he follows his role model Giuseppe Verdi in terms of instrumentation - he brings their full range to the stage. Poulenc delves into the most intimate moments between the Carmelites, but also expresses the tragedy of the French Revolution with overwhelming sounds. He draws his characters with leitmotifs and thus guides his audience stringently through the opera, which is almost entirely dialog-based. The work culminates in the Carmelite nuns' world-famous "Salve regina" at the scaffold.