BBC SO, Chorus and Singers - Faure, Poulenc

Fauré's glorious Requiem and Poulenc's opera Les Mamelles de Tirésias - two French masterpieces. The BBC Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Chorus, BBC Singers and a great cast of soloists are conducted by Ludovic Morlot.

Live from the Barbican Centre, London
Presented by Petroc Trelawny

An evening of Gallic delights featuring Poulenc's most light-hearted and rarely-performed opera and Fauré's intimate, celestial Requiem. Les Mamelles de Tirésias is a setting of Apollinaire's surreal burlesque, in which ardent feminist Thérèse decides to become a man and fight wars, leaving her husband to repopulate the country by giving birth to 40,049 children in a single day! Poulenc conjures up all the undercurrents in the poet's fierce, absurd and often hilarious lines - sung by a superb cast with the BBC Singers. Canadian soprano Hélène Guilmette takes on the truculent and unpredictable heroine. In complete contrast, the BBC Symphony Chorus join soloists Hélène Guilmette and Jean-François Lapointe (baritone) for Fauré's much-loved Requiem, a tender work of consolation, played at his own funeral.

Fauré: Requiem

c. 20.10 Interval Music - F. Couperin: Nouveau Concert No. 9 in E Major, "Ritratto dell'Amore"

Poulenc: Les Mamelles de Tirésias

Hélène Guilmette (Thérèse)
Jean-François Lapointe (Husband)
Vitali Rozynko (Gendarme/Theatre Director)
Thomas Morris (Journalist from Paris)
Ivan Ludlow (Presto)
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Lacouf)
Pierrick Boisseau (Le Fils)

BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Ludovic Morlot conductor
Kenneth Richardson director.