Charles Gounod La Nonne sanglante (The Bloody Nun) opera to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. Directed 2018 by David Bobée at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Stars Michael Spyres (Rodolphe), Vannina Santoni (Agnès), Marion Lebègue (La Nonne), Jérôme Boutillier (Le Comte de Luddorf), Jodie Devos (Arthur), Jean Teitgen (Pierre l’Ermite), Luc Bertin-Hugault (Le Baron de Moldaw), Enguerrand De Hys (Fritz/Le Veilleur de nuit), and Olivia Doray (Anna). Laurence Equilbey conducts the Insula orchestra and the accentus choir (Chorus Master Christophe Grapperon). Set design by David Bobée and Aurélie Lemaignen; costume design by Alain Blanchot; lighting design by Stéphane Babi Aubert; video design by José Gherrak; make-up design by Amélie Lecul; dramaturgy by David Bobée and Laurence Equilbey; dramaturgical research by Anaëlle Lebovits-Quenehen and Catherine Dewitt; artistic collaboration by Corinee Meyniel. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
According to Wonk Lewis Chang, this is a deliciously creepy haunted house (castle actually) opera that will frighten and titillate children of all ages. It also gets a 5 Bloody Dagger award from Clive Paget writing in the January 2020 Opera News (51-52) for “superb music making” and “excellent direction [for TV]” by François Roussillon — not to mention the silliest libretto ever, a ghoulish score, zombie ancestors, warring families, a murderous love affair, a bleeding nun with creepy Hollywood makeup and ping-pong eyeballs, an orgiastic wedding, and a set strewn with architectural ruin and neglected body parts, all illuminated with striking lighting effects. Richard Lawrence reviews this also in the November 2019 Gramophone (95-96) warning of the insanely complicated plot but praising the singing of Michael Spyres and the Insula Orchestra. This is the only video ever of La Nonne, so you may want to buy it before it can go out of print!
Here’s a trailer from Naxos:
OR
>