The Gramophone Choice

Denise Duval sop Blanche de la Force Régine Crespin sop Madame Lidoine Denise Scharley mez Madame de Croissy Liliane Berton sop Soeur Constance Rita Gorr mez Mère Marie Xavier Depraz bass Marquis de la Force Paul Finel ten Chevalier de la Force Janine Fourrier sop Mère Jeanne Gisèle Desmoutiers sop Soeur Mathilde Louis Rialland ten L’Aumônier René Bianco bar Le Geôlier Jacques Mars bar L’Officier Raphael Romagnoni ten First Commissaire Charles Paul bar Second Commissaire Michel Forel ten Thierry Max Conti bar Javelinot Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra, Paris / Pierre Dervaux 

EMI Great Recordings of the Century mono 562751-2 (144' · ADD · S/T/t). Recorded 1958. Buy from Amazon

In the history of French opera Dialogues des ­Carmélites is a worthy successor to Debussy’s Pelléas, and indeed its touching heroine Blanche shares much of the troubling, troubled, out-of-this-world, fey personality of her predecessor. Poulenc is as accomplished a master at setting the French language in a melodic yet at the same time quasi-parlando style as Massenet, and his use of a large orchestra is at once fastidious and convincing, conservative but never derivative, though inevitably there are influences, mostly beneficial ones.

It is evident from this recording that the singers were inspired by the piece to give of their considerable best. With the benefit of hindsight we can judge that this was a final flowering of the authentic school of French singing. Denise Duval is part of the long line of clear-voiced, incisive sopranos in the Heldy mould. She catches here all the conflicting facets of Blanche’s personality, girlish, wilful, frightened, elated as the role requires. Crespin, even though at this early stage of her career she was already not altogether happy above a high G, is a moving, authoritative Madame Lidoine. Still better is Rita Gorr’s commanding yet sympathetic Mother Marie and Denise Scharley’s haunted and haunting Old Prioress, quite devastatingly desparate in her death scene. Liliane Berton is a charming Sister Constance, and the smaller roles are finely taken, not least Louis Rialland as the hapless, helpless Chaplain.

Pierre Dervaux conducts an inspired, inspiriting account of the work, attentive to both its smaller detail and its grander, elevated passages, raising the final scene of martyrdom to a proper degree of intensity as some inner strength and group-fervour grips the nuns. As compared with the vocal score, there are a few cuts and changes in the voice parts, both sanctioned by Poulenc. The mono recording is more than adequate. For anyone interested in 20th-century opera, this is a ‘must’: we are unlikely to have another recording and certainly not one so authentic as this.

Additional Recommendations

Catherine Dubosc sop Blanche de la Force Rachel Yakar sop Madame Lidoine Rita Gorr mez Madame de Croissy Brigitte Fournier sop Soeur Constance Martine Dupuy mez Mère Marie José van Dam bass-bar Marquis de la Force Jean-Luc Viala ten Chevalier de la Force Michel Sénéchal ten L’Aumônier François Le Roux bar Le Geôlier Lyon Opéra Chorus and Orchestra / Kent Nagano

Virgin Classics 358657-2 (152' · DDD · T/t). Buy from Amazon

Poulenc’s chef d’oeuvre is one of the few operas written since Wozzeck that has survived in the repertory – and deser­vedly so. It’s written from, and goes to, the heart, not in any extrovert or openly histrionic way but by virtue of its ability to explore the world of a troubled band of Carmelite nuns at the height of the terrors caused by the French Revolution, and do so in an utterly individual manner. Poulenc unerringly enters into their psyches as they face their fatal destiny. Nagano responds with perceptible keenness to the sombre, elevated mood and intensity of the writing and unfailingly delineates the characters of the principals as they face their everyday martyrdom. The magisterial authority of Martine Dupuy’s Mère Marie, the agony of Rita Gorr’s Old Prioress, the inner torment of Catherine Dubosc’s Sister Blanche, the restraint of Rachel Yakar’s Madame Lidoine, the eager charm of Brigitte Fournier’s Sister Constance are only the leading players in a distribution that’s admirable in almost every respect. The score is for once given complete. The atmos­pheric recording suggests stage action without exaggeration.

The Carmelites (sung in English)

Catrin Wyn-Davies sop Blanche de la Force Ashley Holland bar Marquis de la Force Peter Wedd ten Chevalier de la Force Ryland Davies ten Chaplain David Stephenson bar Jailor Felicity Palmer mez Madame de Croissy Orla Boylan sop Madame Lidoine Josephine Barstow sop Mother Marie Sarah Tynan sop Sister Constance Jane Powell mez Mother Jeanne Anne-Marie Gibbons mez Sister Mathilde ENO Chorus and Orchestra / Paul Daniel

Chandos CHAN3134 (144’ · DDD · S/T/N). Download from Amazon

Poulenc’s Carmelites had its definitive recording with the original cast in 1958 under Dervaux (EMI – see above) but a performance in the vernacular recorded in the studio following stage ­performances has its own relevance, especially when it is conducted with such conviction as by Paul Daniel. The first third of the performance is commanded by Felicity Palmer’s lacerating performance as the Old Prioress. This is a gift of a role for a mezzo of a certain age and Palmer makes the most of it as she conveys the old woman’s seeming loss of faith and fear of death. As Sister Constance, Sarah Tynan sings with charm and ease. As the new ­Prioress, Orla Boylan provides an admirable line; her final solo before the executions is most ­moving. Smaller parts are taken variably.

DVD Recommendation

Les dialogues des Carmélites

Didier Henry bar Marquis de la Force Anne Sophie Schmidt sop Blanche de la Force Laurence Dale ten Chevalier de la Force Léonard Pezzino ten L’Aumônier Christophe Fel bass Le Geôlier Nadine Denize mez Madame de Croissy Valérie Millot sop Madame Lidoine Hedwig Fassbender mez Mère Marie Patricia Petibon sop Soeur Constance Michèle Besse contr Mère Jeanne Allison Elaine Cook mez Soeur Mathilde Ivan Ludlow ten L’Officier Vincent de Rooster ten First Commissaire Merih Kazbek bass Second Commissaire Yves Ernst bar Thierry Jenz Kiertzner bar Javelinot Rhine National Opera Chorus; Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra / Jan Latham-König 

Stage director Marthe Keller 

Video director Don Kent

ArtHaus Musik 100 004 (149‘ · 16:9 · PCM stereo · 0). Recorded live 1999. Buy from Amazon

Marthe Keller’s staging of Poulenc’s austere, deeply eloquent opera was produced at the Opéra du Rhin early in 1999. Keller’s simple ideas match precisely with the intentions of the original, the plain sets and economy of movement mirroring the direct simplicity of Poulenc’s beautiful score.

Every artist here performs in a wholly dedicated fashion as part of a well-tutored ensemble, no one more so than Anne Sophie Schmidt in depicting the psychological struggle and vulnerability of the central character, Blanche de la Force. With her greatly expressive features and her refined voice, Schmidt’s portrayal is starkly moving. In complete contrast is Petibon’s bright, radiant, perfectly sung Constance. Among the older members of the Convent community, Nadine Denize plays her two scenes as the Old Prioress with the authority and concentration they call for, going to her death as she loses her faith in an agonising bout of self-understanding. Hedwig Fassbender is all stern authority as Mother Marie, although one senses sympathy behind the harsh exterior, which is how this part should be. Valérie Millot is outwardly more sympathetic and warm as the new Prioress, Madame Lidoine, who instils courage in her charges when it comes to the crunch and, one by one, they go to the guillotine. Video direction, sound and picture quality are admir­able.

← Poulenc