Fear, religious fervor work in 'Dialogues'

Feb. 19, 2007

by ANDREW PATNER

Lyric Opera of Chicago is closing its season with the company's most powerful production of the year, its first performances of Francis Poulenc's intensely spiritual 1957 "Dialogues des Carmelites" ("Dialogues of the Carmelites").

Unsurprisingly, it comes from the brilliant and insightful Canadian director Robert Carsen, whose "Alcina," "Orfeo ed Euridice" and this season's "Iphigenie en Tauride" at Lyric all have raised the bar on the staging of serious music dramas. With a cast of singing actresses led by the Canadian-Armenian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian in her finest Chicago work to date, the always mesmerizing English mezzo Felicity Palmer, American sopranos Patricia Racette and Anna Christy, and the Lyric debut of English mezzo Jane Irwin, and the mood-perfect musical direction that Andrew Davis brings to the increasingly superb Lyric Opera Orchestra, this is an intensely moving and perfectly performed three hours of theater.

Based on the true story of a group of Carmelite nuns executed in 1794 by guillotine in, literally, the last days of the Reign of Terror that grew out of the French Revolution, this is the French composer's grandest work and one that has won the adoration of many opera fans and religious seekers over the last half century. Poulenc took his libretto from a unproduced film script by the French Catholic writer Georges Bernanos who, in turn, was inspired by the 1931 German novel The Last Woman at the Scaffold by Gertrud von le Fort, who developed a fictionalized account and main character on top of the memoir of Mother Marie, the only nun who survived the bloodshed.

The addition of a young noblewoman, Blanche de la Force, who joins the Carmelites as Sister Blanche of the Agony of Christ, becomes the dramatic motor of a work that unfolds, in keeping with its title, as a series of dialogues between the various characters -- Blanche's family, the other young nuns, two prioresses and Mother Marie (Irwin), who became the sole survivor of the group even though it was she who proposed that the sisters all vow to die as martyrs rather than try to escape the bloodthirsty world at their gates.

As Blanche, Bayrakdarian achieves a wonderful meeting of physical and vocal presence. We feel the range of her secular anxiety, religious questing, fear of death and fear of fear. Always lovely to hear and an intelligent actress, she reaches a new level here. Palmer defines high-level singing-acting, and her agonized death from illness, one that combines physical suffering with existential doubt and anger, sets a challenge and offers a philosophical way out to her charges. Christy as the "how do you solve a problem like Maria?" chatterbox Sister Constance is the one who perceives this, another religious lesson: We rarely know who it will be who comes closest to God.

The male singers, too, are spot on. Veteran American bass-baritone Dale Travis embodies the ancien regime as Blanche's father the Marquis, and graduating Ryan Center tenor Joseph Kaiser distinguishes himself as her brother, the Chevalier, caught among several worlds. American character tenor Dennis Petersen likewise offers a stature-raising performance as the chaplain who both counsels and benefits from the sacrifice of the sisters.

Many find the liturgical choruses the musical high points of the work and, in his farewell turn as Lyric chorus director, Donald Palumbo sees to it that the Lyric Chorus is itself angelic.

Andrew Patner is critic at large for WFMT-FM (98.7).

Ravishing 'Carmelites' pierces the heart

Feb. 18, 2007

by JOHN VON RHEIN

An opera about a group of Carmelite nuns who went to the guillotine during the French Revolution would hardly seem to be relevant to contemporary concerns. But with the terrorist attacks of 2001 still fresh in our memory, the work's subject of religious martyrdom takes on a new and chilling timeliness.

Lyric Opera of Chicago has atoned for its nearly half-century of ignoring Francis Poulenc's masterpiece, "Dialogues des Carmelites," by mounting an extraordinarily powerful and gripping production. The company premiere Saturday afternoon at the Civic Opera House carried such overwhelming emotional force that the audience remained in its seats to give the performers an unusually fervent round of ovations.

Like his staging of Gluck's "Iphigenie en Tauride" earlier this season, director Robert Carsen's 1997 production from the Netherlands Opera — revived here by Didier Kersten — reduced the set to black-and-white essentials so as to concentrate on the characters' psychological states. The severe abstraction and rigorous simplicity of Michael Levine and Falk Bauer's designs reflected the austerity of the Carmelite nuns and their cloistered existence, so brutally disrupted by the Reign of Terror.

"Carmelites" is an opera of ideas more than action. The libretto focuses on the spiritual transformation of Blanche de la Force, a Parisian aristocrat who seeks refuge from her fear of the world in a convent that becomes the crucible of her resolve. She comes to accept the common fate the nuns have longed for, joining them on the scaffold.

Isabel Bayrakdarian, with her full, gleaming soprano and fine musical intelligence, made an affecting Blanche. She conveyed the wounded-sparrow quality that made us care deeply about this fretful neurotic.

Her opposite was the lively chatterbox Sister Constance, sung with sparkle and clarity by soprano Anna Christy, whose naive, unquestioning faith contrasted sharply with Blanche's fear-driven behavior.

The loudest ovation deservedly went to mezzo-soprano Felicity Palmer for her mesmerizing portrayal of Madame de Croissy, the fatally ill prioress. She brought profoundly human conviction to the mother superior's death agonies, in which she bitterly questions why God should abandon one whose life was based on faith and humility.

Soprano Patricia Racette, once a leading interpreter of Blanche, effectively portrayed Madame Lidoine, the new prioress, as a humble, well-intentioned mother hen with underlying apprehensions of her own.

As Mother Marie, who persuades the nuns to take the vow of martyrdom but is unable to share their fate, mezzo Jane Irwin showed us a woman of conscience and firm resolve.

Strong work also came from bass-baritone Dale Travis as the Marquis de la Force, Blanche's complacent father; tenor Joseph Kaiser as her earnest brother; and that wonderfully natural singing actor, tenor Dennis Petersen, as the chaplain, desperate to maintain order and devotion in the face of impending doom.

Music director Andrew Davis found a wealth of color and nuance in Poulenc's ravishingly beautiful score. He was particularly astute at keeping pace with the speed, rhythm and urgency of the various dialogues that drive this talky opera. The orchestra capped off its best season yet with incisive playing.

One's only major disappointment concerned the choice of language. Poulenc wanted "Carmelites" to be presented in the vernacular wherever it was performed. Lyric's non-Francophone cast sang it in the original French. While most of the singers' diction was good enough, that of some of the bit players was not. Had the show been sung in English, the audience might not have had to rely so slavishly on Francis Rizzo's surtitles.

The final scene was shattering, more so because of its understatement. There was no scaffold, no blade, no beheading. With a stoic mob surrounding them upstage, the nuns sang their prayer to the Blessed Virgin as if bathed in celestial light. One by one, each fell to the ground in slow motion as the horrid thunk of the guillotine sliced through the delicate serenity of Poulenc's music.

If there is a more deeply moving scene in all of opera, I'm not aware of it.

Lyric's "Dialogues des Carmelites" runs through March 17 at the Civic Opera House. There is a free lecture one hour before every performance. Call 312-332-2244.

Lyric Opera hits right note with 'Carmelites'

Feb. 17, 2007

by BILL GOWEN
Daily Herald Classical Music Critic

Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 2006-07 season with Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot," in which the Chinese ice princess orders the execution of any would-be suitor who fails to answer her three riddles.

Now, the Lyric wraps up the season with another opera with executions at its core: Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues of the Carmelites," which opened its nine-performance run Saturday.

But how different they are!

Premiered 50 years ago at La Scala in Milan, Italy, "Carmelites" is one of the true masterworks of 20th century opera. It transports us back to the 1790s, the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, and tells the mostly-true story of the martyrdom of 16 nuns at the monastery of Compiegne, France. While at first glance the subject seems unremittingly grim, this is a tale of faith in God and a redemption of the spirit.

The story centers around Blanche, daughter of the Marquis de la Force, whose escape from a revolutionary panic in the streets makes her fear for her safety. This leads to Blanche eventually seeking what she feels is protection of Sisterhood. But once she recites her vows and joins the order, she soon finds that the safety of the cloister from the revolution is but a rumor. Eventually, the sisters secretly vote for martyrdom.

Canadian-Armenian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian portrays Blanche as a fragile daughter of the revolution who grows in spiritual stature as the opera progresses. As Bayrakdarian describes in her program biography: "This character is in all of us. I'm talking about her humanity, not only her fear."

In the opera's final scene, when the nuns are led to the guillotine (collapsing, one by one, as they sing the strains of the Latin hymn Salve Regina), Bayrakdarian describes Blanche as "... the only one who's glorifying God, as if she's going to a wedding instead of her death."

By the way, as traditional with stagings of this opera, the executions are implied rather than shown, although the repeating scythe-like "swish" of the falling guillotine blade (as heard from the orchestra) is a chilling sound effect.

In Robert Carsen's minimalist production from Netherlands Opera, staged here by Didier Kersten (Lyric Opera debut), Blanche remains standing at the final curtain, bathed in a warm glow, arms outstretched cruciform-style, as the bodies of the other sisters lie strewn about. Instead of the Salve Regina, she intones the ancient Latin hymn Veni, creator spiritus ("Come, creator spirit"), although the words are cut off in mid-sentence, symbolizing her own execution.

Bayrakdarian heads an all-star cast that excels in every role, large and small. Meriting particular praise is English mezzo-soprano Felicity Palmer as Madame de Croissy (the first Prioress), whose agonizing Act 1 death scene (from natural causes) is a tour de force. Palmer is regarded as the finest living interpreter of this role, having performed it at the Metropolitan Opera, along with Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland, the English National Opera and at La Scala, where "Carmelites" first saw the light of day a half century ago.

Sister Constance, a key moral center of the opera, is portrayed with great sensitivity by American soprano Anna Christy, while the challenging role of Madame Lidoine (the second Prioress) is taken by American soprano Patricia Racette who, incidentally, portrayed Blanche in the most recent Metropolitan Opera production.

One of the opera's great scenes takes place in Act 2, when Madame Lidoine is joined by Mother Marie (English mezzo-soprano Jane Irwin) in leading the sisters in Poulenc's plaintive version of the Latin Ave Maria.

In Saturday's opening performance, American mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong took over for the ill Meredith Arwady in the role of Mother Jeanne.

Sir Andrew Davis, conducting this opera concurrently with Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," shows complete mastery of Poulenc's score (12 scenes in three acts), and the solid contribution by the chorus is a fitting tribute to the Lyric's longtime chorus master, Donald Palumbo, who is moving on to the Metropolitan Opera following this season.

Poulenc's music is firmly rooted in mid-20th century romanticism, with hints of Prokofiev, Debussy and other familiar composers. However, this gorgeous score is by no means derivative.

One hour prior to each performance, Lyric Opera dramaturg Roger Pines offers a 25-minute lecture on "Dialogues of the Carmelites," including the opera's relationship to actual historic events, along with a critical analysis of Poulenc's landmark work. The lecture is free to all ticket-holders, with seating on the main floor of the Ardis Krainik Theatre.