Charles Gounod, La nonne sanglante (1854)

This is based on an episode from Mathew Lewis' gothic novel The Monk. The idea is that these two families are at war with one another. They decide to stop fighting and to signify the end of their enmity, Agnès, one of their daughters, should marry the eldest son from the other. But OH NO! She and the younger son, Rodolphe, are in love! What to do? They decide to elope, but there's a spooky story that the ghost of a nun is walking the halls of the castle! Rodolphe doesn't believe it, but then he mistakes the ghost for Agnès and pledges his troth to her instead (he may not be all that bright). Then, lucky break, it turns out Rodolphe's brother has been killed in The Wars. Only problem is this damn nun, who won't give Rodolphe up unless she avenges her by killing her lover who murdered her. He agrees, but oh no, who does the murdered turn out to be? Only people who have seen an opera before will be able to guess the answer.

This one's a banger. Beautiful romantic music, frequently highly dramatic, reflecting the gothic nature of the drama. Good stuff. Okay okay, as I said, Rodolphe may be a bit dim, but no biggie. And okay, maybe Rodolphe's page Arthur (en travesti) is slightly incongruous as comic relief, but again, it's totally fine. There may not quite be any single piece as memorable as "Le veau d'or est toujours debout," but on the whole the score is at least as good as if not better than Faust's, I'd say. This production is also very good: limited, abstract sets and characters all costumed in black and gray (except the nun in white), perfectly evoking the setting. The only odd thing about it is these two minor characters with no particular significance to the plot who smash the color scheme by being dressed in bright blue outfits. Why? What is going on here? I don't get it! The performances are fine; Michael Spyres as Rodolphe has the most to do by a pretty wide margin, and he makes it work. I also was very charmed by Jodie Devos as Arthur, even if the role is a little odd. As the nun, Marion Lebègue is memorable and she has these contact lenses that make her pupils look tiny. Very unnerving.

So as you know, the only Gounod operas that are commonly performed are Faust and Roméo et Juliette. Why is this? It could just be kind of arbitrary happenstance, or it could be the fact that those two are based on stories that everyone more or less knows--certainly this one isn't. The Monk may have been a sensation in its time, but who reads it today? Still, we can eliminate the theory that it's based on merit, because this absolutely deserves to be part of the common repertory. A nice surprise.