Poulenc: Dialogues of the Carmélites. Metropolitan Opera.
The cast that the Met assembled for this revival of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites in the timeless John Dexter production was exceptional. Ailyn Pérez as Blanche de la Force, Alice Coote as Madame de Croissy, and Jamie Barton as Mère Marie made impressive role debuts, but it was Christine Goerke, who was returning as Madame Lidoine, who anchored the performance. Bertrand de Billy led the Met Orchestra in a transparent, luminous reading of this powerful opera.