Gounod: La nonne sanglante

A rare opportunity to enjoy Charles Gounod's Gothic opera inspired by Matthew Lewis's 1796 novel The Monk, this production of La nonne sanglante was the work's first ever modern revival. This dark operatic tale of love, ghosts and family feuds was Gounod's second opera, completed years before Faust and Roméo et Juliette for which he is now best known. But the three real advocates for Romantic opera involved in this Opéra Comique production make clear the pleasures of this rarity: tenor Michael Spyres is a superb hero alongside an otherwise French cast, Laurence Equilbey's conducting is energetic (and her Insula Orchestra on top form) while David Bobée's staging is starkly stylish.