The Long LineThe Long Line

Francis Poulenc

Dialogues des Carmélites, op. 159

Opera

Op. 159 Stage

Dialogues des Carmélites, FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. Poulenc wrote the libretto for his second opera after the work of the same name by Georges Bernanos, itself based on The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud von Le Fort.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Synopsis

Place: Paris and Compiègne, 1789–94
Time: during the French Revolution

Acte I

The opera opens with Marquis and Chevalier de la Force talking about the general unrest in France and their worries about Blanche, at a time when crowds stop carriages in the street and aristocrats are attacked. The pathologically timid Blanche de la Force decides to retreat from the world and enter a Carmelite convent. The Mother Superior informs her that the Carmelite Order is not a refuge; it is the duty of the nuns to guard the Order, not the other way around. In the convent, the chatterbox Sister Constance tells Blanche (to her consternation) that she has had a dream that the two of them will die young together. The prioress, who is dying, commits Blanche to the care of Mother Marie. The Mother Superior passes away in great agony, shouting in her delirium that despite her long years of service to God, He has abandoned her. Blanche and Mother Marie, who witness her death, are shaken.

  1. Tableau 1 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Blanche, votre frère avait grand'hâte de vous revoir"
  2. Tableau 1 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Je vois qu'il n'y a heureusement rien de grave"
  3. Tableau 1 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Les soldats surviennent à temps"
  4. Tableau 1 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Mon enfant chérie"
  5. Tableau 1 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Où est Blanche?"
  6. Tableau 1 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Son imagination va toujours d'un extrême à l'autre"
  7. Interlude
  8. Tableau 2 (Le parloir, au Carmel de Compiègne). "Je vois que les sévérités de notre règle"
  9. Tableau 2 (Le parloir, au Carmel de Compiègne). "Ma fille, les bonnes gens se demandent"
  10. Tableau 2 (Le parloir, au Carmel de Compiègne). "N'allez pas croire que ce fauteuil"
  11. Tableau 2 (Le parloir, au Carmel de Compiègne). "Vous pleurez?"
  12. Interlude
  13. Tableau 3 (La tour, à l'intérieur du couvent). "Encore ces maudites fèves!"
  14. Tableau 3 (La tour, à l'intérieur du couvent). "Oh! sœur Blanche"
  15. Tableau 3 (La tour, à l'intérieur du couvent). "Vous n'avez pas honte de parler ainsi"
  16. Interlude
  17. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "Ayez la bonté de relever ce coussin"
  18. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "Dieu se glorifie dans ses saints"
  19. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "Je trouve que Blanche de la Force tarde beaucoup!"
  20. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "La révérende mère veute que vous approchiez"
  21. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "Monsieur Javelinot, je vous prie de me donner"
  22. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "Mère Marie de l'Incarnation! Mère Marie"
  23. Tableau 4 (Une cellule de l'infirmerie). "Relevez-vous, ma fille"

Acte II

Sister Constance remarks to Blanche that the prioress' death seemed unworthy of her, and speculates that she had been given the wrong death, and that perhaps someone else will find death surprisingly easy.
Blanche's brother, the Chevalier de la Force, arrives to announce that their father thinks Blanche should withdraw from the convent, since she is not safe there (being both an aristocrat and the member of a religious community, at a time of anti-aristocracy and anti-clericalism in the rising revolutionary tides). Blanche refuses, saying that she has found happiness in the Carmelite Order. Later she admits to Mother Marie that it is fear (or the fear of fear itself, as the Chevalier expresses it) that keeps her from leaving.
The chaplain announces that he has been forbidden to preach (presumably for being a non-juror under the Civil Constitution of the Clergy). The nuns remark on how fear rules the country, and no one has the courage to stand up for the priests. Sister Constance asks, "Are there no men left to come to the aid of the country?" "When priests are lacking, martyrs are superabundant," replies the new Mother Superior. Mother Marie says that the Carmelites can save France by giving their lives, but the Mother Superior corrects her: it is not permitted to choose to become a martyr; God decides who will be martyred.
A police officer arrives and announces to the community that the Legislative Assembly has nationalized the convent and its property, and the nuns must give up their religious habits. When Mother Marie acquiesces, the officer taunts her for being eager to dress like everyone else. She replies that the nuns will continue to serve, no matter how they are dressed. "The people have no need of servants," proclaims the officer haughtily. "No, but they have a great need for martyrs," responds Mother Marie. "In times like these, death is nothing," he says. "Life is nothing," she answers, "when it is so debased."

  1. Interlude
  2. Interlude 1 (Le jardin du couvent). "Pensez à la mort de notre chère mère"
  3. Interlude 1 (Le jardin du couvent). "Sœur Blanche, je trouve notre croix"
  4. Interlude 2 (Une salle du couvent). "Qe se passe-t-il?"
  5. Tableau 1 (La chapelle du Carmel). "Que faites-vous?"
  6. Tableau 1 (La chapelle du Carmel). "Qui Lazarum resuscitasti a monumento foetidum"
  7. Tableau 2 (La salle du chapitre). "Mes chères filles"
  8. Tableau 2 (La salle du chapitre). "Mes sœurs, Sa Révérence vient de nous dire"
  9. Tableau 3 (Le parloir). "Dans des temps comme ceux-ci"
  10. Tableau 3 (Le parloir). "Oh! ne me quittez pas sur un adieu de fâcherie!"
  11. Tableau 3 (Le parloir). "Pourquoi vous tenez-vous ainsi?"
  12. Tableau 3 (Le parloir). "Remettez-vous, sœur Blanche"
  13. Tableau 3 (Le parloir). Prélude
  14. Tableau 4 (La sacristie du Carmel). "Mes Sœurs, notre révérende mère viendra bientôt"
  15. Tableau 4 (La sacristie du Carmel). "Mes chères filles"
  16. Tableau 4 (La sacristie du Carmel). "On a tiré la clochette!"
  17. Tableau 4 (La sacristie du Carmel). "Où sont les religieuses?"
  18. Tableau 4 (La sacristie du Carmel). "Qu'allez-vous devenir?"

Acte III

In the absence of the new prioress, Mother Marie proposes that the nuns take a vow of martyrdom. However, all must agree, or Mother Marie will not insist. A secret vote is held; there is one dissenting voice. Sister Constance declares that she was the dissenter, and that she has changed her mind, so the vow can proceed. Blanche runs away from the convent, and Mother Marie goes to look for her, finding her in her father's library. Her father has been guillotined, and Blanche has been forced to serve her former servants.
The nuns are all arrested and condemned to death, but Mother Marie is away at the time of the arrest. Upon receiving the news, the chaplain tells Mother Marie, when they meet again, that since God has chosen to spare her, she cannot voluntarily become a martyr by joining the others in prison.
At the place of execution, one nun after another stands and slowly processes toward the guillotine, as all sing the "Salve Regina" ("Hail, Holy Queen"). At the last moment, Blanche appears, to Constance's joy, to join her condemned sisters. Having seen all the other nuns executed, as she mounts the scaffold, Blanche sings the final stanza of the "Veni Creator Spiritus," "Deo Patri sit gloria...", the Catholic hymn traditionally used when taking vows in a religious community and offering one's life to God.

  1. Interlude
  2. Interlude
  3. Interlude 1 (Une rue devant le couvent). "Citoyennes, nous vous félicitons"
  4. Tableau 1 (La chapelle). "Il y a une seule opposition"
  5. Tableau 1 (La chapelle). "Parlez-leur, mon père"
  6. Interlude 1 (Une rue devant le couvent). "Sœur Gérald, il faut absolument prévenir le prêtre"
  7. Tableau 2 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "C'est vous"
  8. Tableau 2 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). "Sœur Blanche de l'Agonie du Christ!"
  9. Tableau 2 (La bibliothèque du marquis de la Force). Prélude
  10. Interlude 2 (Une rue du quartier de la Bastille). "M'est avis que nous ne sommes point"
  11. Tableau 3 (Une cellule à la Conciergerie). "Le Tribunal révolutionnaire"
  12. Tableau 3 (Une cellule à la Conciergerie). "Mes filles, j'ai désiré de tout mon cœur"
  13. Tableau 3 (Une cellule à la Conciergerie). "Mes filles, voilà que s'achève"
  14. Tableau 4 (Place de la Révolution). "Salve Regina"
  15. Tableau 4 (Place de la Révolution). Prélude

Synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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