Stéphane Denève: Poulenc Revisited

Addiction and Loss
This Saturday Matinee is entirely devoted to the music of Francis Poulenc, to whom Stéphane Denève feels a strong connection. He demonstrated this three years ago with an all-Poulenc program. “With Poulenc’s music, I feel like I understand what lies between the lines,” says Denève. “When you hear a dramatic work by Poulenc, there is a sense of hope in it at the same time.”La Dame de Monte-Carlo isa secular monologue for soprano and orchestra based on a text by Jean Cocteau, a portrait of addiction and loss. TheSuite Les animaux modèlesis based on famous fables by Jean de la Fontaine, which will come to life this afternoon with Pierre Bokma as narrator.

Angels Sticking Out Their Tongues
With the young Franco-Catalan soprano Lauranne Oliva, the choir and orchestra perform Poulenc’s famousGloria. The lively second movement caused quite a stir at the time. Poulenc said of it: “I thought of angels in Gozzoli’s frescoes sticking out their tongues and of serious Benedictine monks I’ve seen playing soccer.” He based the operaDialogues des Carméliteson a historical event: during the French Revolution, a group of nuns ended up as martyrs. The chilling final movement vividly depicts their fate…