I've often heard of this work, but have never seen a performance. What a magnificent introduction to it! Utterly riveting.

Now I can understand better why many opera companies won't perform it. Its historically undeniable story of vicious oppression of Catholics by "enlightened" secular revolutionaries runs counter to the intelligentsia's favorite theme of Catholic persecution of the "enlightened". But for every Galileo -- who suffered nothing worse than house arrest -- there have been a … [More]

On 17 July, 1794, in the closing days of the Reign of Terror led by Robespierre, sixteen Carmelite nuns of the Catholic Church were guillotined at the Barrière de Vincennes (nowadays Place de la Nation) in Paris. They were buried in a common grave at the Picpus Cemetery, where a single cross today marks the remains of the 1,306 victims of the guillotine. A mere handful of the French Revolution's victims, they have commanded the attention of historians, hagiographers, authors, playwrights, … [More]