Friday, May 9, 2008

Dialogues des Carmelites: Final Scene

The chilling finale to Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites-- the mass execution of the nuns while singing the final prayer for deliverance, the Salve Regina--decimating the chorus one by one, to the last surviving voice. The horrible sound of the falling guillotine--zing!-- that keeps on slicing through the serene music sends chills down the spine, I swear.

This is the same minimalist but first-rate Strasbourg production I saw on DVD.



And here's the Metropolitan Opera's version starring the formidable Jessye Norman.

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