Estimated duration

2 h, incl. intermission

Organizer

Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri

Barbara Hannigan's phenomenal performance of Francis Poulenc's mini-opera La voix humaine has received standing ovations around the world.

Barbara Hannigan, conductor, soprano

Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen
Francis Poulenc: La voix humaine

New York, Milan, Paris, London, Rome. Now it is Helsinki’s turn to experience how Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan transforms into a woman wounded to the core. Poulenc’s opera has only one character, a woman who talks – or rather sings – on the phone to her lover. As the call progresses, it becomes clear that the relationship is falling apart, as the man has fallen in love with someone else.

Hannigan describes the one-woman drama, based on Jean Cocteau’s play, in her own words: “The opera seems to present a situation in which a woman (Elle) is having a painful and final conversation with her ex-lover, in which we only hear her words, not his. This one-sided conversation is absolutely full of contradictions, lies, fantasy and desire. I find myself asking if there even is an ex-lover?”