La Voix Humaine

Synopsis

“This innovative hour-long reimagining… is at once an operatic vignette and an acting showcase — well worth your time.” (The Times) La Voix Humaine, as visualised by Emmy and Bafta winning director James Kent offers an unprecedented cinematic interpretation of Poulenc’s masterpiece. As an hour long dramatic one-off, it features only one performer, the char acter known only as Elle. It was premiered in Paris in 193 as a play by Jean Cocteau and subsequently turned into music drama by his friend Francis Poulenc in 1959. Written originally in 1928, Cocteau was examining change that the technology of the telephone was to bring to humans and how they conducted their relationships. “In spite of it all, we are connected by this telephone… this line is the last thing tying me to us”. The viewer is skilfully placed as a silent observer of Elle’s desperate conversation, captured in the intimate and claustrophobic setting of a single apartment. Her hopes, her longings, her nostalgia, and her final acceptance, all illumi nated by a powerful score conducted by Antonio Pappano. We feel her pain as she grapples with love and loss over the course of one late afternoon via a single, suspenseful, often interrupted, telephone call with her departing lover.

Additional Info

• No: A02050143
• Composer: Francis Poulenc
• Conductor: Antonio Pappano
• Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
• Artists: Danielle de Niese
• Production year: 2022
• Run time: 00:53:00
• Director: Director: James Kent
• Producers: BBC, Royal Opera House, Painted Doll, K418 Arts, Trademark Films
• Format: HDTV 16:9