La voix humaine

E36360

La voix humaine is a one-act monodrama opera by Francis Poulenc, based on Jean Cocteau’s play, depicting a woman’s emotional breakdown during a final phone call with her lover.

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Observed surface forms (2)


Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf monodrama
one-act opera
opera
basedOn La voix humaine self-linksurface differs
surface form: La voix humaine (play)
catalogueNumber FP 171
centralTheme abandonment
despair
emotional breakdown
lost love
characterCountOnStage 1
commissionedBy Opéra-Comique
composer Francis Poulenc
composerNationality French
dramaticDevice offstage male voice implied by telephone
dramaticFocus final phone call with lover
duration about 40 minutes
emotionalTone intimate
tragic
firstPerformer Denise Duval
form monologue
genre lyric drama
hasAdaptation film adaptations
television film adaptations
language French
librettist Jean Cocteau
librettoSource La voix humaine self-linksurface differs
surface form: Jean Cocteau’s 1930 play La voix humaine
musicalStyle expressionism
lyricism
notableRole Elle
numberOfActs 1
numberOfSingers 1
orchestration orchestra
originalMedium stage
periodOfComposition late 1950s
playwrightNationality French
premiereCity Paris
premiereCountry France
premiereDate 1959-02-06
premiereLocation Opéra-Comique
premiereTheatre Salle Favart
setting Paris
woman's apartment
structure continuous scene
style 20th-century opera
subjectMatter telephone conversation
timePeriod contemporary to its composition
vocalTypeOfProtagonist soprano

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

La voix humaine basedOn La voix humaine self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: La voix humaine (play)
La voix humaine librettoSource La voix humaine self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Jean Cocteau’s 1930 play La voix humaine
Malena Ernman notableWork La voix humaine