Faith and Revolution

Poulenc's 'Dialogues des Carmélites' in Bologna,
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc is a rare twentieth century opera based on an actual historical event and on religious considerations and tensions. The opera has had considerable success among music specialists and audiences, even though, when it was first staged, both British musicologist Jeremy Sampson and Poulenc himself considered it 'unashamedly old fashioned'.

The historical event is the execution of sixteen Roman Catholic nuns on 27 July 1794, just ten days before the end of the French Revolution. It became the basis for a German novel by Gertrud von Le Fort in 1931...

FRANCIS POULENC

TEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNA

ITALY

20TH CENTURY