La Voix humaine - Point d’orgue

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, France

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7:30 PM

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Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Paris, France

Starts at: 19:30

Duration: 45min

Sung in: French

Titles in: French,English

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

Overview

A mirror effect with contemporary resonances as Poulenc enters into dialogue with composer Thierry Escaich.

In 1958, two years after Dialogues des Carmélites, Poulenc composed La Voix humaine, a one-act work featuring a solo female character dealing alone with her distress after the collapse of a relationship. Thierry Escaich, a multifaceted and multi-talented composer, whose rich writing for orchestra is suffused with sacred resonances, decided to compose a companion piece to Poulenc’s work entitled Point d’orgue. The challenge he set himself was to imagine a sequel in the form of the resumption of the dialogue between Him and Her. Working in counterpoint to Cocteau’s words, Olivier Py, who is steeped in the world of theatre and writes in a modern idiom, offers a human and humanist vision of the couple’s dialogue. The quartet of Patricia Petibon, Cyrille Dubois, Jean-Sébastien Bou and Olivier Py premiered this show to an empty auditorium in March 2021 as COVID was raging worldwide. It seems appropriate now to reunite the cast and see and hear these two pieces in counterpoint in which they had demonstrated such a successful and strong commitment to contemporary creation, working closely with set designer Pierre-André Weitz. This diptych has dialogue at its heart – between the two people on the brink of breaking up, in words, and between two sensitive and deeply modern musicians.

Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Opéra de Dijon | Opéra National de Bordeaux | Opéra de Saint-Étienne

History

Premiere of this production: 06 February 1959, Opéra-Comique, Paris

La voix humaine (The Human Voice) is a forty-minute, one-act opera for soprano and orchestra composed by Francis Poulenc in 1958. The work is based on the play of the same name by Jean Cocteau, who, along with French soprano Denise Duval, worked closely with Poulenc in preparation for the opera's premiere. Poulenc's tragédie lyrique was first performed at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique in Paris on 6 February 1959, with Duval singing the female role and Georges Prêtre conducting; the scenery, costumes and direction were by Cocteau.

Synopsis

The curtain opens to reveal a bedroom where a woman (Elle) lies unmoving on the ground. She changes position once before finally rising. Although she makes to leave the room, the phone rings and she returns to answer it. The woman receives two wrong numbers before her ex-lover is able to get through to her. She lies to him, saying that she went out with her friend Marthe the previous night, and that she took one pill to help her fall asleep when she returned. The couple discuss their past relationship, and Elle blames herself for their problems, claiming, "Tout est ma faute." Throughout their conversation, they experience numerous telephone problems, and their connection finally cuts out completely. When Elle calls her lover's home phone, she discovers that he is not there and assumes that he is at a restaurant. He calls her back, and Elle reveals that she has lied during their conversation; instead of going out with Marthe the previous night, she took twelve sleeping pills in an attempted suicide. She then called Marthe, who arrived with a doctor to save her. Elle suddenly hears music in the background, and she grows suspicious that her lover is at the home of his new girlfriend. She expresses her suspicions to him several times until the end of the opera, but he never admits to his true location. Elle also reveals her obsession with the telephone, explaining that she has slept with it in her bed for the past two nights. Their connection fails once again, and Elle panics. Her lover calls her back once more, and she informs him that she now has the telephone cord wrapped around her neck. Telling him she loves him over and over, she sinks into her bed and drops the receiver, possibly strangling herself with its cord in the process.

Venue Info

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées - Paris
15 Avenue Montaigne

The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is an entertainment venue situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people.

Commissioned by impresario Gabriel Astruc, the theatre was built from 1911 to 1913 upon the designs of brothers Auguste Perret and Gustave Perret following a scheme by Henry van de Velde, and became the first example of Art Deco architecture in the city. Less than two months after its inauguration, the Théâtre hosted the world premiere of the Ballets Russes' Rite of Spring, which provoked one of the most famous classical music riots.

At present, the theatre shows about three staged opera productions a year, mostly baroque or chamber works more suited to the modest size of its stage and orchestra pit. It also houses an important concert season. It is the home venue of the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre Lamoureux and serves as a French base for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra as well.

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and Ensemble orchestral de Paris play most of their concerts here too, along with other dance, chamber music, recital, and pop events.

Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Paris, France

Starts at: 19:30

Duration: 45min

Sung in: French

Titles in: French,English

Masterclasse : Jan Versweyveld le mercredi

Opera National de Paris - Paris

15 May 2019, Wed, 7 PM

Semele

Théâtre des Champs-Elysées - Paris