Dialogues Carmelites

Dialogues of the Carmelites (in French, Dialogues des carmélites), is an opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. In 1953, M. Valcarenghi approached Poulenc to commission a ballet for La Scala in Milan; when Poulenc found the proposed subject uninspiring, Valcarenghi suggested instead a screenplay by Georges Bernanos, based on the novella, Die Letzte am Schafott (The Last on the Scaffold), by Gertrud von Le Fort. Le Fort's work (the English translation of which was titled Song at the Scaffold) was based, in turn, on historical events which took place at a monastery of Carmelite nuns in Compiègne during the French Revolution (see Martyrs of Compiegne).