Performers: Kristín E. Mäntylä soprano and Eva Þyri Hilmarsdóttir pianist

Directed by Sigríður Ásta Olgeirsdóttir.

The opera The Human Voice (La Voix Humaine), a one act monodrama by the French composer Francis Poulenc, is based on a play by Jean Cocteau and written for a soprano and either orchestra or piano.

It depicts the final phone call between Elle and her lover, who has ended their five-year relationship and is set to marry another woman the following day. The entire story is told through this single phone call, in which we only hear Elle’s side of the conversation. The music reflects the hesitations and pauses of the call; the vocal line is mostly written in a recitative style, and the piano acts as the voice of the man on the other end. As the conversation progresses, the audience gradually gains a clearer picture of the nature of their relationship and how things truly stand. The telephone line is the only thing that connects Elle to her former lover, and she is terrified of that connection being severed.

The performance will be in French, with the Icelandic translation by Kristján Þórður Hrafnsson projected on a screen.

Programme:

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

The Human Voice (La Voix Humaine)

Libretto based on a play by Jean Cocteau (1928)

Length: 40 mínútur

More information, festival programme and artists’ bios available at www.seiglafestival.com

Harpa is the main sponsor of Seigla 2025. Seigla music festival is supported by SUT and Ruth Hermanns Music Fund, Ýlir, Iceland University of the Arts and The Icelandic Schumann Society.