Francis Poulenc: L'Opéra National du Rhin
by Don Kent, Marthe Keller
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anne-Sophie Schmidt, Jan Latham-Koenig, Laurence Dale, Nadine Denize, Patricia PetibonDirector: Don Kent, Marthe Keller
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled); French (Original Language), PCM Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 156 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-11-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Arthaus Musik
Movie Reviews of Francis Poulenc: L'Opéra National du Rhin
Movie Review: Powerful Poulenc
Summary: 5 Stars
I spent a nice couple of hours reacquainting myself with this performance which I had not seen perhaps since its release over a decade ago. I remember being very moved by it then, and fail to understand as to why I waited so long to experience it again.
What a stunning, theatrically compelling and insightful production Marthe Keller put upon the Strousburg stage. Many would complain about the starkness of the set which is, more frequently than not, bare. Poulenc's opera (as John Dexter's similarly spartan stage proved decades before) holds up well in such a "setting" allowing not only more detailed portrayals of its finely nuanced characters, but for the viewer/listener to focus on those portrayals. The reward is a rich one in such a case as this.
Anne Sophie Schmidt gives us a deeply touching portrayal of Blanche, her face - particularly when framed by her wimple - registering every one of the frightened by the world, heroine's emotions. Those nuances come through, too, in her handling of the music, though (as is the case with several other cast members) high notes can feel a bit screeched out (of course, Poulenc is not easy on his singers, requiring some specatcular "leaping" effects at the ends of phrases).
The always wonderful Patricia Petibon gives a performance of Constance that elevates the chirpy young nun to a place of genuine dramatic prominence. The scenes between Blanche and Constance are powerful, a real connection is made between these two young novices which makes the final moment of an already overwhelmingly emotional scene, almost unbearable in its poignancy and strength.
Hedwig Fassbender is a strong presence, and captures brilliantly the almost over zealousness with which she wants the order to pursue martyrdom - it's almost an obsession. Her street scene with the Priest when she realizes she is not to be martyred presents a powerfully conflicted and wilfull woman denied the one thing she most desired.
Even if it took a few minutes for me to warm up to the voice of Valérie Millot, she made a fine and touching Mme. Lidoine - entirely believeable in her modesty.
I have always been something of a fan of Nadine Denize and she captures, quite perfectly, the severity, hope and charm of Madame de Croissy. Her death scene is (as it built into the role itself) one of the most chilling, terrifying moments one can experience on stage. I loved the connection here between de Croissy and Blanche, the young nun cradling the dying woman - a symbol of authority and order she so much needs in her life. I dare anyone to keep a dry eye here!
As a director, Keller provides some amazing effects in her production, an almost air-raid style roar near the end, the filmed sequences in black and white which are captured beautifully on DVD (and which only during the curtain calls does one notice the movie screen at the rear, meaning the in- house audience got the same effect). Particularly, the violent ripping off of the sisters' facial veils by the Revolution Council officers, and the March to the Scaffold.
The final scene is simply staged, the nuns - all now in tattered white with self-decorated black grease chalked crosses each marked herself with as they were condemned to death, holding each other together in a huddle, hands and arms draping themselves almost as a single organism before simply lining up for the guillotine, each collapsing at her moment of death until Blanche's turn, whereupon she walks amongst the corpses of her fallen sisters, fearless and serene.
Film director, Don Kent, in (apparently) his first televised opera production does not have a single faux pas - capturing every moment for maximum impact. His ability to captures the myriad - almost never ending - dance of shadows and light, minimizing the use of the facial close-up too prevalent in opera videocasts these days, all revealing someone with a genuine gift. (Kent has since gone to be video director for some truly wonderful operatic DVD experiences: Platee, Lucia, Onegin, Traviata, Ariadne, and more).
Conductor, Jan Latham-Koenig "feels" this score to his bones and the results show in his work with the chorus and orchestra of the Opera National du Rhin forces.
Summary of Francis Poulenc: L'Opéra National du Rhin
French composer Francis Poulenc was both an ardent Catholic and a free-loving homosexual, making the achievement of his intensely personal opera, Dialogues des Carmélites, even more remarkable. Although widely known as a mere purveyor of endlessly charming and witty music (including some of the most perfectly constructed songs of the entire 20th century), Poulenc also wrote many substantial compositions, of which the three-act Carmélites ranks highest. Based on Georges Bernanos's story about young Blanche, a selfless nun martyred along with the rest of her convent during the French Revolution, Carmélites, thanks to its composer's considerable musical and dramatic skills, is one of the most emotionally direct and unapologetically moral of all modern operas.For this 1999 production at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, France, actress-turned-director Marthe Keller does a superlative job of conveying Poulenc's intentions. Her spare staging effectively evokes the austere world of the cloistered nuns, and there are many striking images, notably the opera's final tragic moments when the women literally drop, one by one, to the musical sound of the guillotine's blade. In a first-rate cast, Anne Sophie Schmidt is an especially touching Blanche, and conductor Jan Latham-Koenig has masterly control over the emotional ebb and flow of Poulenc's score. The DVD sound is full and rich, the subtitles are adequate, and Don Kent's video direction includes visual felicities--like slow-motion, still images, and black and white--that underscore the preordained doom without overdoing it. --Kevin Filipski
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