Dates and Times:
Friday, October 24, 2003 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 26, 2003 at 2 p.m.

Single Ticket Prices:
$10, 15, 20, 30, 35 (discounts available for seniors, youth, and groups)

Season Ticket Packages:
This concert is part of the CU Opera season ticket package.

Location:
Macky Auditorium

Running Time:
Three hours

Event Overview:
Poulenc’s riveting masterpiece is based on the true story of the martyrdom of 16 nuns during the French Revolution when laws forbade their existence. Although their fate on this earth is an unjust one, these strong and spiritual women finally accept the sacrifice they must make and look beyond to a happier afterlife. This dramatic modern opera employs Poulenc’s beautifully melodic orchestration and lyrical songs to depict the conquest of fear by faith. CU Opera's production features mezzo-soprano and CU-Boulder Music Faculy member Julie Simson in the role of Mother Superior. Sung in English.

Synopsis:
Blanche de la Force joins the Carmelites hoping to escape from the realities of life among the revolution-threatened French aristocracy, though she is forewarned by the elderly Prioress that the order is not a refuge, and that her salvation lies only within herself. Sister Constance tells Blanche of a premonition that they will die together. The Prioress dies and is replaced not by her assistant, Mother Marie, but by an outsider, Madame Lidione. As the Revolution approaches Blanche is urged by her brother to return to their father, but she refuses. The revolutionary regime orders all religious groups dissolved. In the absence of Madame Liodine, Mother Marie secures what appears to be a unanimous vow of martyrdom from the sisters. The Carmelites are forced to leave the convent. Blanche returns to her father's home as a servant and refuses Mother Marie's plea to rejoin her sisters. Arrested and sentenced to die, the nuns go to their death singing, and as the last one, Sister Constance, is executed, the repentant Blanche appears and mounts the scaffold to join her companion in martyrdom.

Cast:
Mother Superior - Julie Simson
Marquis de la Force - Thomas Angerhofer/Sang-Jun Yoon
Blanche - Sara Gartland/Kathy Wurster
Chevalier de la Force - Kerem Kurk
Madame Lidione - Gina Harvey-Heintzleman/Kimberly Needham
Mother Marie - Clea Nemetz
Sister Constance - Delight Scheck/Shauna Keene

Directors:
Stage Director - William Gustafson
Music Director - Robert Spillman

Audio:
Listen to or purchase music from Dialogues of the Carmelites at Barnes&Noble.com. A portion of your purchase will be donated to CU Concerts.
 Dialogues of the Carmelites