Poulenc's Poignant Spiritual Drama

During his tenure as the Metropolitan Opera's director of productions in the 70s, the late, great John Dexter had a hand in transforming the company into the best in the country. His legacy is perhaps best embodied by his 1977 production of Poulenc's dramatic Dialogues des Carmelites, a stark and powerful staging that returns to the opera house again, ushering 2023 with a bang.

Unlike the flowery professions of true love and drawn-out death scenes of most romantic tragedies forming the basis of the opera tradition, Dialogues des Carmelites is a devastating story of the spirit, in which Poulenc explores the themes of faith and martyrdom. His sweeping score interweaves with the story of a convent of Carmelite nuns who face a crisis of faith as the shadow of the French revolution creeps ever closer.