by Nathan Southern
synopsis
Freely adapted from a literary work by French belletrist Georges Bernanos (Diary of a Country Priest), this Francis Poulenc opera was mounted at Milan's Teatro degli Arcimboldi in 2004. It co-stars Christopher Robertson as Le Marquis de la Force, Dagmar Schellenberger as Blanche, Gordon Gietz as Le Chevalier and Anja Silja as Madame de Croissy. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala lend musical accompaniment, under the baton of Riccardo Muti, with Bruno Casoni serving as chorus master. Michael Levine designed the sets, Falk Bauer created the costumes, Jean Kalman did the lighting and Robert Carsen directed for the stage.
