La voix humaine: trailer

2,140 views · Published 30 January 2013 · 1:30 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: Opera North · 2013 · Entertainment

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http://www.operanorth.co.uk/productions/la-voix-humaine
Lesley Garrett makes her return to the operatic stage in a work of rare originality and stark emotional honesty.  

A woman is sprawled alone on her bed. 'It looks like the scene of a murder' said Jean Cocteau, who wrote the play on which Poulenc's opera is based.  But the woman isn't dead.  She gets up and makes to leave, when the phone rings. It is her ex-lover. During the next 40 minutes we hear one side of an increasingly desperate conversation in which the woman tries anything to win him back.  But it's no use -- she can't get through to him. He hangs up, and she's left whispering 'Je t'aime' to nobody.

La voix humaine is short in length, but not on emotional impact. Through the lone voice of the woman, Poulenc expresses all the pain and fear of rejection in the rawest fashion, whilst enveloping her voice in music of caressing warmth and sensuality.

Aletta Collins returns to Opera North to direct this one woman show, which will showcase Lesley Garrett's talent in this heartbreaking portrayal of a relationship's breakdown.

Cast

Elle - Lesley Garrett

Creative Team

Conductor - Wyn Davies
Director - Aletta Collins
Set Designer - Giles Cadle
Costume Designer - Gabrielle Dalton
Lighting Designer - Andreas Fuchs

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