Poulenc’s searing one-woman opera, semi-staged and up close. Part of Vancouver Opera’s VOICES series.

The phone rings. She knows who it is, and she knows how this ends.

For five years she has loved a man who was never fully hers. Tonight he is calling to say goodbye. Alone with the line, and surrounded by the remnants of the life they shared, she pleads, deflects, jokes, and lies. She holds on as long as she can, struggling between the future she imagined and the one she now has to face by herself.

Francis Poulenc’s La Voix humaine is one of the most intense works in the operatic repertoire. It has one singer, one telephone, and a text by Jean Cocteau. We only ever hear her side of the conversation, and somehow that tells us everything. The silences hurt as much as the words.

This semi-staged recital brings the opera into an intimate space, close enough to catch every hesitation and every breath she can’t quite steady. Whether this is your first opera or your fiftieth, it’s a performance you won’t shake easily.

Cecilia Nguyen Tran

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Nov 3, 2026

La Voix humaine: One Woman, One Last Phone Call · Vancouver Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Piano in La Voix humaine by Poulenc

Vancouver Opera

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