La Voix humaine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Voix humaine (The Human Voice) is the final opera by Francis Poulenc, first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris on 6 February 1959. It is a short, one-act piece based on a play by Jean Cocteau. The piece has a single character, an unnamed woman who is on the telephone to her lover. It soon becomes evident the relationship is breaking up and the opera ends with the woman despairingly murmuring "I love you" into the phone. Poulenc wrote the role of the woman for his close friend, the soprano Denise Duval. The orchestra at the premiere was conducted by Georges Prêtre.
[edit] Recordings
- La Voix humaine Duval, Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique, Prêtre (EMI, 1958)
- La Voix humaine Felicity Lott, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Armin Jordan (Harmonia Mundi, 2001)
[edit] Sources
- The Viking Opera Guide edited by Amanda Holden (Viking, 1993)
- Booklet notes to the Jordan recording
 |
This article about an opera or opera-related subject is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
