Prom 31: Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites - 7 August 2023

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:00 Monday 7 August 2023
Royal Albert Hall

Francis Poulenc: Dialogues of the Carmelites

Sally Matthews - Blanche de la Force
Katarina Dalayman - Madame de Croissy (Old Prioress)
Golda Schultz - Madame Lidoine (New Prioress)
Karen Cargill - Mother Marie of the Incarnation
Florie Valiquette - Sister Constance of St Denis
Fiona Kimm - Mother Jeanne of the Child Jesus
Paul Gay - Marquis de la Force
Valentin Thill Chevalier de la Force
Vincent Ordonneau - Father Confessor
Theodore Platt - Jailer
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Robin Ticciati - conductor

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

At the murderous height of the French Revolution, Blanche de la Force flees the violence on Paris’s streets and enters the convent. But horror pursues her, and she is forced to confront her fears. Can she find the courage to live – or die? A 20th-century masterpiece, Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogues of the Carmelites is a devastatingly powerful portrait of human courage, faith and community. Robin Ticciati conducts an all-star cast including Sally Matthews and Golda Schultz in this concert-staging fresh from the Glyndebourne Festival.

[french frank]

Monday 7 August, 7pm start, ends approx. 10.15.

[Master Jacques]

Glyndebourne will doubtless follow their usual Proms format, giving us as much of the stage production as would make sense on the Royal Albert Hall's stage. I'll be there, to see one of my favourite operas - side stalls as always!

[PhilipT]

Glyndebourne will doubtless follow their usual Proms format, giving us as much of the stage production as would make sense on the Royal Albert Hall's stage.

I do hope so. But I can't see them translating the stunning coup de théâtre where the revolutionaries break through the wall of the convent.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Have to say so far that’s a bit too much wobbly singing amongst the female singers . And without the score some of the French is very difficult to interpret.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Despite my earlier reservations about some of the singing that was an absolutely magnificent performance. Almost unbearably moving. What it must have been like in the opera house doesn’t bear thinking about. The outstanding highlight of the Proms so far for me.

[edashtav]

Despite my earlier reservations about some of the singing that was an absolutely magnificent performance. Almost unbearably moving. What it must have been like in the opera house doesn’t bear thinking about. The outstanding highlight of the Proms so far for me.

Yes an outstanding Prom in a season which has already a goodly number of very fine concerts.
I enjoyed Andrew MacGregor’s interval interview, as well. I warmed to the idea that Blanche = Francis Poulenc, himself, and that that the work related to the
violent car accident which killed Francis Poulenc’s great friend and fellow composer, Pierre-Octave Ferroud.

I like the story that one mirning whilst Poulenc was considering a libretto for his great Opera, he was walking across Rome when he espied a copy of Dialogues des carmélites by Georges Bernanos in the window of a bookshop. He felt draw inside by the book, and bought a copy. He settled in the Piazza Navona and ordered a light breakfast of coffee and an orange juice. Of course, the book was opened, an ice-cream ordered, and, finally, a bottle of water. Suddenly, Francis realised as he reached the last page of the novella, that it was noon, he had been at table for two hours, but, importantly, he had discovered a text that he felt he must turn into an Opera.

[Simon B]

Certainly the cleanest, crispest most incisive orchestral playing I've heard since... the last LPO concert I attended. That... is what an accent sounds like, and proves that it is possible for an orchestra to play absolutely together with whiplash attack even in the properly weird Albert Hall acoustic. Having played an entire run at Glyndebourne presumably helps a lot.

Once again, what is it that recently about 1 in 10 middle aged adults can't well sit or stand still for more than 5 seconds, needing instead to constantly fidget like a bored child? Thus pretty much guaranteeing in a crowded venue like this that one such miscreant will be in your immediate vicinity like a bluebottle in your peripheral vision? That's 6 out of 6 concerts for me so far this year. If during a concert in the near future the R3 announcer explains that the unscheduled long pause between movements is to allow for the removal of wreckage, that'll be affirmation of the old adage that pushing a quiet man beyond his limit is a dangerous move .

It seems that the old joke about the best seat in the hall being at home is becoming truer than ever for the Proms...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Simon - I heartily concur with your thoughts on the LPO and the magnificent Ticciati . The attack , the precision oh my an hour later I’m still reeling . A superb sound balance complete with spine tingling sound and crowd effects. How I am going to sleep ?

[ostuni]

Certainly the cleanest, crispest most incisive orchestral playing I've heard since... the last LPO concert I attended. That... is what an accent sounds like, and proves that it is possible for an orchestra to play absolutely together with whiplash attack even in the properly weird Albert Hall acoustic. Having played an entire run at Glyndebourne presumably helps a lot.


It seems that the old joke about the best seat in the hall being at home is becoming truer than ever for the Proms...

I've edited the quoted bit so as not to take up too much screen space, but agree with every word! And about the LPO's playing.

I found Sally Matthews's Blanche wonderful to look at (the acting from all the principals was very well directed) - but very hard to listen to. Is her vibrato always that uncontrolled, or was she having an off night? Or maybe trying too hard to fill a space immeasurably bigger than the Glyndebourne auditorium?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I've edited the quoted bit so as not to take up too much screen space, but agree with every word! And about the LPO's playing.

I found Sally Matthews's Blanche wonderful to look at (the acting from all the principals was very well directed) - but very hard to listen to. Is her vibrato always that uncontrolled, or was she having an off night? Or maybe trying too hard to fill a space immeasurably bigger than the Glyndebourne auditorium?

I agree with you re the vibrato and that’s what initially put me off (post #6) . But by 22.00 I was metaphorically throwing flowers on the stage . I also thought , to put it bluntly , SM’s voice didn’t sound like that or of a youthful novitiate. The Financial Times critic incidentally thought exactly the same as us in their otherwise rave review. But in the end I was won over by the thrilling dramatic (and Musical ) intensity of her performance. I’m in the a bit of acting ability and commitment makes up for a lot of vocal drawbacks School - the prime example being Maria Callas - not a comparison I make lightly,

[Master Jacques]

It was a wonderful evening to be there. Without going into review mode, I must chime in other Forumites' praise of Ticciati and the orchestra, and the skill with which the essence of the Glyndebourne production was captured, while keeping Poulenc centre stage. I also agree that it was 'Hamlet Without the Prince', as Sally Matthews seemed miscast as Blanche. While most others' text came across loud and clear (despite the hall) it was hard to make out a word she was saying in her rather tremulous, mature soprano - a fault which is hard to forgive, in Dialogues particularly. She simply didn't communicate Blanche's phobia adequately, and her acting is crude.

But the performances of the other principals - especially I think Karen Cargill's wonderfully rounded Mother Marie - more than compensated for the one sub-optimal performance. It was a tremendous Prom.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It was a wonderful evening to be there. Without going into review mode, I must chime in other Forumites' praise of Ticciati and the orchestra, and the skill with which the essence of the Glyndebourne production was captured, while keeping Poulenc centre stage. I also agree that it was 'Hamlet Without the Prince', as Sally Matthews seemed miscast as Blanche. While most others' text came across loud and clear (despite the hall) it was hard to make out a word she was saying in her rather tremulous, mature soprano - a fault which is hard to forgive, in Dialogues particularly. She simply didn't communicate Blanche's phobia adequately, and her acting is crude.

But the performances of the other principals - especially I think Karen Cargill's wonderfully rounded Mother Marie - more than compensated for the one sub-optimal performance. It was a tremendous Prom.

Interesting - her ‘acting’ sounded fine on the radio if you know what I mean. But she could certainly do with some French diction lessons. I wonder if the vibrato has got more pronounced during the run. I think Blanche needs to be cast at about the age of Isabel Leonard who recently did the role for the Met - superbly.

[Belgrove]

Interesting - her ‘acting’ sounded fine on the radio if you know what I mean. But she could certainly do with some French diction lessons. I wonder if the vibrato has got more pronounced during the run. I think Blanche needs to be cast at about the age of Isabel Leonard who recently did the role for the Met - superbly.

She did not have a pronounced vibrato at the premier performance at Glyndebourne, so it could have developed over the run and/or through compensating for the larger space to fill at the RAH. I read somewhere that Poulenc approved of the work being performed in the vernacular, which for such a dialogue driven work seems entirely sensible. I thought the orchestra was the star of the show at Glyndebourne and was surprised on listening last night how Ticciati had managed to retain the whip-crack incisiveness of the attack and swooning harmonies without sounding soupy.

(I was at Glyndebourne on Friday where Ticciati and the LPO gave a stunning rendition of the evergreen Hockney production of the The Rake’s Progress. The strings had a burnished warmth and the woodwinds that characteristic Stravinskian tartness - as fine a rendition, and as swift, as Stravinsky’s own recording. But everyone was upstaged by David Hockney, who took a bow at the end and received a standing ovation. He’s rather frail nowadays, but was the only person there wearing a cloth cap and Crocs.)