Maestro David Agler takes the podium while opera legend Judith Forst takes the stage in UBC Opera’s new production of the moving Dialogues des Carmélites. Francis Poulenc’s wrenching tragedy tells the story of the Carmelite nuns condemned and martyred during the French Revolution. Mezzo-soprano Forst, herself a UBC alumnus, takes on the role of Madame de Croissy. Aside from the lush, harmonic delights that should arise with the singers and the UBC Symphony Orchestra under Agler’s baton, the show should be visually stunning, with a huge cross hanging over the proceedings from the canopy of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts. That’s where the opera runs from today through Sunday (February 7 to 10).