June 28, 2008

Rijeka's „Ivan Zajc“ Theatre (HNK Ivana pl. Zajca)     20,30 h

Guest Performance of the Opera of Zagreb's Croatian National Theatre

Francis Poulenc: DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES

Conductor: Michael Helmrath
Director: Krešimir Dolenčić

Participants: Siniša Hapač, Tamara Franetović-Felbinger, Tvrtko Stipić, Zlatomira Nikolova, Vedrana Šimić, Inge Heinl-Stančić, Marija Kuhar Šoša, Branka Sekulić-Ćopo, Helena Lucić, Jasna Spehnjak, Franica Gašpardi, Višnja Budiščak, Nadežda Jonke, Lidija Madjerčić, Tamara Cipek, Natalija Halužan, Sanja Čorak, Marijana Šokčević, Maja Mejovšek, Sandra Šegedin i ostali

The operatic version of this true story about the destiny of the Carmelite sisters from the monastery in Compiegn, performed its Croatian premiere with exceptional success in Zagreb's Croatian National Theatre (HNK) fifty years after the opera's premiere in La Scala of Milan. The performance is winner of the 2007 Croatian Playhouse Award in the category for best operatic presentation as a whole.

“Dialogues of the Carmelites” by Francis Poulenc, is an opera that leaves nobody indifferent. Should we attempt to penetrate into the secret of its unquestionable impressiveness, we would probably discover that precisely its refusal to adhere to the usual cliches, but also to the aesthetic dictates of the post-war years in European music, make it so specifically intriguing. However, the thing that is primal is that the demonstrated ideological conflict is not merely an aggressive competition between two opponent sides, in this case between the Catholic nuns and the revolutionaries in the course of the first years of the French Revolution.“

Trpimir Matasović