Intermezzo

Singing nuns sued for Regietheater excess

The heirs of Francis Poulenc are nun too pleased with Dmitri Tcherniakov's 2010 production of Dialogues des carmélites. They've taken the Bavarian State Opera to court, alleging the concept, in particular the final scene, misrepresents the 1957 opera.

A traditional synopsis will tell you the work is about 16 Carmelite nuns executed as martyrs for bravely defending their beliefs during the French Revolution. Tcherniakov's contemporary staging instead imagines a mass cult suicide prevented at the last moment by Sister Blanche's own self-sacrifice.  

Poulenc's central message is that faith is worth dying for; Tcherniakov's that only human life merits the ultimate sacrifice. Clearly the two are diametrically opposed. Yet many who've seen the production (reviewers too) claim Tcherniakov's reading is profound and truthful - the word 'masterpiece' has even been bandied around.

Pending resolution of the lawsuit, scheduled performances on 1 and 4 November will take place. However the claimants have insisted that special programme notes are drawn up, distancing them from the production.

Make up your own mind - here's the production trailer:

Too much Poulenc, not enough pipi

Lisa Milne/John Mark Ainsley/Malcolm Martineau - Wigmore Hall, 9 April 2008

Poulenc Cinq poemes de Paul Eluard; Métamorphoses; Le Portrait; Nuage; Chanson de Porcelaine; Mais Mourir; Fiançailles pour rire; Le fraîcheur et le feu   
Heggie Friendly Persuasions
Messiaen 'Trois melodies': Pourquoi; Le sourire; La fiancée perdue
Honegger Saluste du Bartas - 6 Villanelles 
Rosenthal Four songs from 'Chansons de Monsieur Bleu': Quat' et trois sept, L'éléphant du jardin des plantes; Grammaire; La souris d'Angleterre

The title of this recital, 'Poulenc and French tradition', steeled me for its Poulenc-stuffed first half. Even so, with nearly an hour of material packed in, it all got a bit relentless well before the end. No wonder Poulenc song recordings tend to toss in a little Fauré or Debussy for leavening.

This is no reflection on the meticulously prepared singers. The lustrous Lisa Milne, performing without a score, fumbled the odd line, but such is her command of the French language she could flannel it like a native. John Mark Ainsley's pronounciation wasn't quite as idiomatic, but a couple of vowels aside it was spot-on, and he gave the work the sort of thoughtful, intelligent performance it merited.

Poulenc's Louise de Vilmorin settings Fiançailles pour rire lent Lisa Milne the opportunity for some emotional exploration. But the portions of elliptical Éluard surrealism which surrounded it were oversized, and the jumble of word play eventually dragged.

The second half began with a change of pace which might have sat better as a breather in the first half. It was the premiere of Jake Heggie's Friendly Persuasions, four songs (in English) about friends of Poulenc. Endearingly retro and unmistakeably American, it's maybe too much of a Broadway/Poulenc pastiche to carry any real weight, but it was John Mark Ainsley's best performance of the night, measured and just the right side of intense, and the words seemed anything but trite.

In this année Messiaen, the three early songs performed by Lisa Milne may not be masterpieces, but they were fascinating in demonstrating many of his later characteristics in embryonic form. And Saluste du Bartas, winningly displayed by Ainsley, was a bit of a discovery too, showing another side to the often dour Honegger in its sparkling melodies and imaginative harmonies.

The last part of the recital was perhaps the slightest, but definitely the most entertaining. For Manuel Rosenthal's childish Chansons de Monsieur Bleu, John Mark Ainsley landed a couple of epic tonguetwisters perfectly, and Lisa Milne, explaining the éléphant's accident in his culotte, clearly relished the opportunity to make pipi on the stage of the Wigmore Hall, even if only verbally.

Some of the songs were performed for Radio 3 prior to the recital - available for another couple of days here. And it looked as if the whole thing was being recorded anyway, so I'm guessing it may turn up on Radio 3 at some point in the future.