Henri Hell et al. in Paris - 1952

from The Paris Diary: Paris 1952, page 120:

A nice autumn. Even prettier as seen from Poulenc's apartment overlooking the Luxembourg at the fall of a clear day. I spent the late afternoon there yesterday with Henri Hell in order to hear the maître sing us the first three and a half tableaux of his opera... Then Francis played us what's written of the Carmélites and I was disappointed. Usually I love his music and feel he's the only one here who has not tumbled into that touchy masterpiece-complex trap. Yet this whole Carmelite idea seems so Catholic and wearisome that I just can't be moved. I didn't know what to say...
cite as

Ned Rorem, The Paris Diary: Paris 1952. In The Paris Diary and The New York Diary 1951-1961 (New York, 1998), p. 120. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1398018058650 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: Paris

Listeners

Ned Rorem
Critic, essayist, Composer, Diarist […]
1923-

Listening to

hide composers
Dialogues des Carmélites
written by Francis Poulenc
performed by Francis Poulenc

Experience Information

Date/Time 1952
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, in private, indoors

Originally submitted by iepearson on Sun, 20 Apr 2014 19:20:58 +0100