La Voix Humaine

The human voice is not hampered by tape measure, caution tape or signage. She goes her own way – straight into the ears and the heart. That’s what mezzosoprano Cora Burggraaf convincingly proves in La Voix Humaine.
In 1928 Jean Cocteau wrote this disconcerting monologue for a woman on the telephone. For the very last time she talks to her ex-lover, with whom she had an affair for five years. He got married to someone else in the meantime. But the abandoned lover remains possessed with him, their memories and her own wishful thinking.
In 1958 Francis Poulenc put La Voix Humaine to music for a soprano and an orchestra, and later for the piano. Poulenc, who previously surprised with Sinfonietta and L'Histoire de Babar called it his best musical-dramatic work. And who are we to sing or speak up against this statement?
During the concert a cameraman records Burggraaf’s movements. The large projections increase the visitors’ voyeurism; they are the eyewitnesses of a shattering heart.
La Voix Humaine, which is sung in French and has Dutch subtitles, is directed by Mirjam Koen and Gerrit Timmers. They are the founders of theater company Onafhankelijk Toneel in Rotterdam and previously directed and/or designed sets for Suver Nuver and Carver. Additionally, they directed thirteen opera productions.
Burggraaf already made her voice heard during Boulevard. In 2018 she voiced a poetry cycle with music by Hendrik Andriessen, as part of the Stabat Mater project.

Credits
Vocals: Cora Burggraaf
Piano: Daan Boertien
Camera: Huub Laurens
Direction: Mirjam Koen & Gerrit Timmers
Photography: Pepijn Lutgerink

Made possible with support of Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten (Balkonscènes)