Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

[Belgrove]

That Covent Garden production, conducted by Simon Rattle, was indeed magnificent. No props other than the occasional chair, just done with very inventive and effective lighting. Glyndebourne are mounting a new production of the Carmelites from June this year, which is something to look forward to.

There is hardly a piece by Poulenc I dislike, but his solo piano and chamber music is a constant in my listening, combining the playful and the profound.

[crb11]

I saw Carmelites at ENO in early 2007, so Mandryka's recollection could be correct. I think the ROH one may have been the following year - I considered going but didn't in the end. Similarly stunning performance, and I think the ending staging was broadly similar to Cockney Sparrow's description.

[Cockney Sparrow]

With more time available, I've checked - I saw the Robert Carsen production in June 2014. There is a DVD of Muti / La Scala published in 2004 and it refers to Muti having seen the production and arranging for performance at Las Scala. The ROH yearbook says that I saw Carsen's production, originally that of 2002 from Die Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam.

I have the Muti DVD and the ending is not as I remember it - it could well be a faulty memory about a single line (I'm sure the Nun's emerged from the darkness, and then fell, one by one). Alternatively, he could have altered the final scene in 2014 - easy enough, with no set to speak of (lighting, backdrops only)..

[Belgrove]

There’s a thread on that production here:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?11228-Les-Dialogues-des-Carmelites-(ROH)

[gurnemanz]

There’s a thread on that production here:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...rmelites-(ROH)

Thanks for the nudge. Skipping through the contributions there, including a couple of my own, served to remind me of a rewarding evening in the theatre. (And saves me coming on here to repeat myself}

[Cockney Sparrow]

There’s a thread on that production here:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...rmelites-(ROH)

Your post #22 there is an eloquent summary of my evening at that production - thank you. Together with posts #22, #23.

I hadn't listened, or seen in any form D. Carmelites before - although I do like the music of Poulenc I have come across and should have explored even more of it since 2014 - I must listen to the Bramwell Tovey/Chandos Disc for a start. As a result I had no other listening experience to judge the Carsen/Rattle production but I was mightily impressed by the whole performance. Abandoning cross reference, I agree with Gurnemanz :

.....I think the last scene was quite in accord with the imagery and choreography of the production overall and worked well for me. It will probably be my abiding memory of the evening......

[Pulcinella]

It might be worth flagging this up:

Poulenc Integrale - Edition du 50e anniversaire 1963-2013

20CDs for just under £60.

Full listing here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poulenc-Integrale-50e-anniversaire-1963-2013/dp/B0091JQH76/ref=d_pd_sbs_sccl_1_1/261-0506301-4669350?pd_rd_w=8g7WL&content-id=amzn1.sym.6c8d29e1-38cd-431e-9df4-498e4a8afa66&pf_rd_p=6c8d29e1-38cd-431e-9df4-498e4a8afa66&pf_rd_r=Q71RVJ7RCZMM3QATNQF7&pd_rd_wg=gJ2tE&pd_rd_r=2b453bee-06ee-4932-a426-3fe9d13ca159&pd_rd_i=B0091JQH76&psc=1

[Bryn]

It might be worth flagging this up:

Poulenc Integrale - Edition du 50e anniversaire 1963-2013

20CDs for just under £60.

Full listing here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poulenc-Int...091JQH76&psc=1

Ouch! It was less than half that price when I got it 10 years ago.

[Pulcinella]

Ouch! It was less than half that price when I got it 10 years ago.

A first class stamp almost certainly cost less than half today's price too.

Still pretty good value, I think (though I think there was/is a Decca equivalent that I didn't buy as I had many of the recordings already, especially the Mélodies).
Listening to the Prêtre Biches as I type.

[vinteuil]

I saw Dialogue of the Carmelites about 15 years ago, at the Colosseum I think, but it may have been Covent Garden - I certainly left the theatre thinking it was a magnificent work. I can still remember the final scene.

... how to achieve the sound of the guillotine always a nice challenge. I enjoyed this piece -

http://renewablemusic.blogspot.com/2010/09/this-is-not-guillotine.html

apparently the premiere at la Scala used a replica guillotine, but recent productions have tended to use a couple of percussionists or a recorded effect. The score isn't terribly enlightening

https://music.utah.edu/mckay-music-library/dialogues/Production_History.php

.

[Boilk]

A first class stamp almost certainly cost less than half today's price too.

[Pulcinella]

Pretty close then.

[Serial_Apologist]

[Bryn]

And the quality of their delivery 'service' has dropped like a stone since privatisation. An LP I ordered from York Records, supposedly due to be delivered by Royal Mail "by Wednesday 19th" was eventually delivered this morning. Also, it was supposed to have been tracked. The only update to the tracking after "dispatched" was post[sic] it's delivery.

[Pulcinella]

And just think how many stamps you could buy with your pensioner's £10 Christmas bonus (to help you send your cards?).
Obviously, pensioners have 90% (or so) fewer friends these days.