Représentation Lyrique - Dialogues des Carmélites de Poulenc

Orchestra and chorus of the Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine
Musical Director: Marc Leroy-Calatayud
Stage director: Tiphaine Raffier

A tragic and little-known episode of the French Revolution, the true story of a religious community guillotined during the Terror inspired writer Georges Bernanos to create the character of Blanche de la Force, the unwitting heroine of this drama.

Blanche wants to enter a convent, leave her family behind, break away from a routine life and throw herself into the unknown, risking the total gift of herself. It's not a fight, but a surrender to something greater than herself, while all around her noise and fury explode.

With this powerful and moving work, playwright Tiphaine Raffier makes a stunning entry into the world of opera. She has chosen to present Francis Poulenc's masterpiece in its most radical and contemporary form, recounting how Blanche's courage gradually merges with that of the entire community as it advances towards the guillotine in one of the most moving scenes in the entire operatic repertoire. This show is not about a flawless heroine, but a woman in search of the absolute who, against the rigid codes of an aristocratic family and political fanaticism, decides to remain true to her commitment, right to the end.

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