Opera

Dialogues des Carmélites

Francis Poulenc

What do we live for? What are we prepared to die for? Do we have the strength to stand up for our convictions at the decisive moment? Based on the true story of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, who were executed on 17 July 1794, Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) created a haunting opera about fear, faith, self-belief and death, which premiered at Milan’s La Scala in 1957.

Paris, 1789: Blanche de la Force, whose mother died in childbirth, is suffering from severe anxiety and so decides to seek refuge and support in a convent run by the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne. She asks the old and dying Mother Superior, Madame de Croissy, to admit her to the novitiate as “Blanche of the Agony of Christ”. But the convent walls are no protection against the horrors of the French Revolution. Blanche manages to escape before her fellow nuns are arrested and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Guards. But in the hour of their execution, she suddenly returns ...

Poulenc’s colourful and delicate orchestration successfully brings to life the individual traits and strong emotions of the characters – including the Carmelites’ famous “Salve Regina” at the scaffold, undoubtedly one of the most poignant moments in opera literature. In a review of Jetske Mijnssen’s production, which celebrated its successful premiere at Zurich Opera House on 13 February 2022, the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper wrote: “What you experience here is about as harrowing and existential as musical theatre can be.”

Opera in three acts with twelve scenes
Libretto by the composer, based on the play by Georges Bernanos. Adapted for the opera with the permission of Emmet Lavery. Based on the novella Die Letzte am Schafott by Gertrud von Le Fort and a film script by P. Raymond Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini.

Performed in French with German and English surtitles

Premiere
31. January 2026,

No further performances in the current season.

Premiere cast