When we first encounter Blanche de la Force, the young 18th century French aristocrat at the heart of Francis Poulenc’s opera “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” she’s a bundle of nerves — flighty, oversensitive, jumping at shadows.
Three hours later, now a Carmelite nun, she goes to meet her fate with newfound stateliness and grace.
That transition, a miracle of spiritual growth and self-sacrifice, lies at the heart of Poulenc’s shadowy 1957 masterpiece, which returned to the San Francisco Opera on Saturday, Oct. 15, for the first time in 40 years. It’s a religious fable whose power, in a successful performance, doesn’t depend on the listener’s belief (or disbelief) to make an impact, but rests on the strength of its own moral convictions.
And this new production isn’t merely successful, it’s a potent triumph.
Magnificently sung from top to bottom, conducted with fluid assurance by Music Director Eun Sun Kim and staged with an eye to both grandeur and immediacy, “Carmelites” conjures up every expressive strand in Poulenc’s suave score and weaves it into a rich dramatic tapestry.
There’s a certain alchemy in that, because the piece, seen from a certain angle, is yet another participant in the long operatic tradition of killing female characters for artistic reasons. Like their stage sisters before them, from Dido through Cleopatra, the Carmelite nuns suffer and die so that we in the audience can experience a sense of vicarious redemption.
The twist here is that vicarious redemption is actually the theme of the opera and not just its modus operandi. Self-sacrifice, as practiced by the title characters in conscious emulation of Christ, serves as the moral through-line to the entire work.
That value motivates each of the principal characters in her own way. For the high-spirited Sister Constance, Blanche’s friend and fellow novice, it helps her match her merry temperament to an easy acceptance of death. For the senior members of the order — two successive prioresses and the conflicted but maternal assistant prioress, Mother Marie — the role of self-abnegation is a deep moral mystery, one that takes a lifetime to fully understand.
All of this takes place in the shadow of the Reign of Terror, which came after religious orders as well as royals and aristocrats. Poulenc’s libretto, based on a play by Georges Bernanos, draws on a historical true episode recounted by the one surviving member of the order.
Even though it was last staged at the War Memorial Opera House in 1982, “Carmelites” has a notable history in San Francisco, where it had its first U.S. production just a few months after the world premiere at La Scala in Milan. (That production was also memorable for featuring the debut of the great African American soprano Leontyne Price.) That connection made it a natural candidate for inclusion in the company’s centennial season.
It would have been hard to predict, though, just how splendid the results would be. Director Olivier Py’s production, staged here by director Daniel Izzo, takes the blacks, grays and whites of the nun’s habit and turns them into a visual metaphor for self-denying modesty.
Designer Pierre-André Weitz’s set uses a lone chandelier to distinguish between the Carmelite convent and the chateau of the de la Force family. Huge blocks of wall separate periodically to create a cross of light at center stage. Everything is steeped in restraint and rigor.
Amid that stage palette, though, the exquisite vocalism of the entire cast registered on opening night like a series of seraphic shafts of light.
Soprano Heidi Stober’s appearances with the company have been reliable sources of joy ever since her 2010 debut in Massenet’s “Werther.” But her performance as Blanche added a new and even deeper level of psychological specificity to her expected vocal brilliance.
As Mother Marie, soprano Melody Moore — now grown into the promise of her early years as an Adler fellow — brought heft and precision to the assignment.
Just as rewarding were the women making company debuts, including American soprano Deanna Breiwick as a sparkling, crystalline Sister Constance, and American soprano Michelle Bradley, who brought both gravitas and force to the role of Madame Lidoine, the second prioress to head the convent.
For a jaw-dropping tour de force of vocal and theatrical prowess, though, honors must go to the German soprano Michaela Schuster as the original prioress, Madame de Croissy. The meat of this role is an extravagantly long and ferocious death scene that concludes the first of the opera’s three acts, and Schuster delivered it with an unforgettable combination of arching vocal power and emotional turmoil.
There are men on the scene as well, though they tend to hover around the edges of the action. Tenor Ben Bliss followed up last fall’s superb company debut in Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte” with a ringing appearance as Blanche’s beloved brother, and bass-baritone Dale Travis spun comic gold out of his brief appearance as their father.
Under director John Keene, the Opera Chorus lent luminous depth to the score’s liturgical passages.
“Carmelites” is a potentially tricky undertaking, a work that sprouted from the composer’s own religious faith (and doubts) and lets them blossom into something dark, strange and wonderful. The San Francisco production does the work, and the company’s own legacy, proud.
“Dialogues of the Carmelites”: San Francisco Opera. Through Oct. 30. $26-$408. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-3330. www.sfopera.com. Available to live-stream at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21. $27.50. www.sfopera.com/digital