Dialogues des Carmélites, Francis Poulenc

Dialogues Des Carmelites is my personal favourite of Poulenc's works, and this is coming from someone who is very fond of his songs.

"C" from "Deux Poemes De Louis Aragon" is especially close to my heart, it was one of my audition songs for Birmingham Conservatoire and one of the main things that won me a place there, my head of department Julian still referring to it to this day.

Back to 'Dialogues Des Carmelites', it's also to me one of the greatest operas of the twentieth century, memorable in particular for, from personal opinion, THE most moving final scene in all of opera. Out of the numerous operas I've participated in, only the final scenes for this and 'La Boheme' had me sobbing uncontrollably in the wings (after being killed off).

This is a simply stunning production. It's one of the best productions of the opera on DVD, in a DVD competition where the bizarre and near-offensive production from Dmitri Tcherniakov being the only one that fell flat (didn't think that the final scene could be ruined, but that production managed to) and the best one since the 1999 production with Ann-Sophie Schmidt and Petricia Petibon. While dark and spare a lot of the time, the production is highly atmospheric and is a long way from ugly and uninteresting, the starry sky in the final scene being particularly striking. Video directing is very well done, picture is clear and sound is resonant.

Olivier Py's stage directing is never static, even in the less eventful scenes with the nuns, and intelligent, never falling into distaste or irrelevant ideas. The Old Prioress' death scene is especially powerful, though the prison and final scenes are also impressive in their emotional content. The final scene's staging is some of the most inspired of the entire DVD competition, never clumsy, never bizarre and it's visually striking. The orchestra play with lush tone, very nuanced phrasing and much power in the more forceful moments, the jailer's entrance and solo almost scary in its intensity. The nuns are well-balanced and seem like individual characters rather than nuns in straight lines in stand-and-sing fashion.

Superb casting too. Peticia Petibon has come on some way since the 1999 production, where she sang Constance, Blanche is a far heavier role (though Constance's role with its high tessitura is a definite challenge) and Petibon sings and acts it brilliantly, playing her as a girl of many conflicts and emotions (the fragile moments especially poignant) rather than an indecisive or passive character. Rosalind Plowright is a powerful and incredibly moving Old Prioress, vocally she may be past prime but it is clear from her acting that she is living it (her death scene is enormous, the longest of the entire opera and it is riveting and one of the most harrowing renditions of the scene on DVD).

Veronique Gens, a lovely artist who is deserving of more attention, provides some of the production's most beautiful singing and her Madame Lidoine shows a splendid contrast to her earthy humour when first introduced to the unbearably poignant sincerity in the prison scene. Sandrine Piau is a charming Constance, not once being taxed by the treacherously high tessitura, and Sophie Koch is rich in voice and more sympathetic (but still authoritative and dogmatic) than most in the role of Mere Marie. Philippe Rouillon and Topi Lehtipuu give very strong support.

In conclusion, simply stunning and can't be recommended enough. 10/10 Bethany Cox