Stars: Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Anne-Sophie Schmidt, Jan Latham-Koenig

Summary: Francis Poulenc's opera which tells the story of a group of nuns who are executed for their faith during the French Revolution.

French composer Poulenc's only full-length opera was filmed for this video at a centennial performance at Strasbourg's Opera du Rhin. The production, which explores Western spirituality, is conducted to great effect by a specialist in the French opera, Jan Latham-Koenig. Soprano Anne Sophie Schmidt -- complemented by the backing music of the Orchestre Philharmonique di Strasbourg -- lends her gorgeous voice to the title character of Blanche.

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Poulenc's late pious works for voice share the sprightliness of his early secular orchestral and chamber pieces; this is perhaps especially true of his 1952 work of devotion and martyrdom. Young aristocrat Blanche seeks refuge in the cloister from her fear of death only to find the Carmelites she joins the object of persecution by the Jacobin Revolution; she flees, but then comes back to share her sisters' death--a powerful scene in which a hymn is stripped down a voice at a time, and finally silenced when Blanche joins them on the guillotine. Anne Sophie Schmidt as Blanche is convincing both in her terror and her resignation; Patricia Petibon is delightful as her closest friend, the lively young nun Constance to whom fear is never especially an issue and who has sought death cheerfully from the start, praying that the dying Prioress might be saved and she taken in her place. The older women--the two Prioresses and Mere Marie who persuades the nuns to refuse compromise--are equally fine in their graver music.--Roz Kaveney

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Interactive Menus
Subtitles:	Dutch, English, German
Year:	1999
Release Date:	August 29, 2000
Runtime:	149 minutes
Certification:	Exempt.
Catalogue Number:	100 004
Keywords:	Music, Opera, Wide, Screen, Works, Stage, Francis, Classical, Performing, Poulenc, Choral, Operetta, Des, Vocal, Dialogues, Carmelites, Arts
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts