Denise Duval revisited or The Rediscovered Voice

A fascinating master class on Francis Poulenc's La Voix humaine given by the French soprano Denise Duval.

Based on an eponymous 1930 play by John Cocteau, Francis Poulenc's La Voix humaine premiered in 1959 to resounding success, and went on to become his most famous opera. The one-act tragédie lyrique features a single character on stage: a woman talking on the telephone, expressing herself through fragmented, truncated soliloquy. Through a one-sided conversation, weighed down by meaningful omissions and the serious limitations of long distance communication, the sad story of her recent love affair's difficult ending unfolds.

Denise Duval, soprano and Francis Poulenc's muse, originated the female role in 1959. Thirty years later, she works with soprano Sophie Fournier on performing of La Voix humaine, accompanied by Alexandre Tharaud on the piano, and allowing Dominique Delouche to capture the one-of-a-kind master class on camera.