Ridgefield to Screen The Met's DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the classic John Dexter Metropolitan Opera production of Poulenc's devastating story of faith and martyrdom. Dialogues des Carmélites comes to The Ridgefield Playhouse screen in HD Saturday, May 18 at 12pm. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard sings the touching role of Blanche and soprano Karita Mattila, a legend in her own time, returns to the Met as the Prioress. This performance is part of Atria Senior Living Classical Series with support from Whistle Stop Bakery and is underwritten by Jeanne Cook, Liz & Steven Goldstone and Sabina & Walter Slavin.

French composer Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) is known for a wide variety of works in many genres, including piano and chamber music, songs, ballets, three operas, and religious music, successfully combining mysticism with modern sensibilities. Poulenc wrote the opera's libretto himself, based on an unproduced screenplay (that was then turned into a stage play) by Georges Bernanos (1888-1948) which in turn is based on the 1931 novella Die Letzte am Schafott (known in English as The Song at the Scaffold) by German writer Gertrud von Le Fort (1876-1971).

The opera takes place between 1789 and 1794 in Paris and in the town of Compiègne in northeastern France, the site of the Carmelite nuns' convent. Its historical basis is the martyrdom of a group of 16 Carmelite nuns and lay sisters from Compiègne, who chose to offer themselves as victims for the restoration of peace to France during the Revolution.

The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. The Ridgefield Playhouse offers free tickets to The Metropolitan Opera in HD series to students 18 and younger as a way for parents to introduce their children to the arts. FREE tickets are also available to students 18 and younger for live and encore HD screenings of The Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre of London.

For tickets ($25 | Members & Seniors $20 | Students $15 | FREE for students 18 and under) call or visit the box office, 203-438-5795 or go online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.