Poulenc's La voix humaine at Temple Song

Poulenc himself produced the piano version of his opera, La voix humaine, and though he preferred the original full orchestra version, I have always thought that a performance with just voice and piano matches the concentrated (almost disturbing) intensity of the work. There is a chance to find out on Monday 23 January 2017 when mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and pianist Julius Drake perform La voix humaine at Middle Temple Hall for the Temple Music Foundation's first concert of 2017.

In a full and wide-ranging programme, Christine Rice and Julius Drake will start with Haydn's cantata Arianna a Naxos about another woman abandoned by her lover, followed by Ravel's Chants Populaires and Kaddish, with La voix humaine to finish.

La voix humaine was written in 1958 using a text based on a play by Jean Cocteau. Poulenc wrote the work for his muse Denise Duval (the first Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites). Duval helped with the adaptation of Cocteau's text and Poulenc's writing for her was so aligned to her voice that her regarded her as co-creator.

Full details from the Temple Music website.