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Poulenc's The Human Voice / Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle
“A unique merger of two one-act operas”
0.0 / 10• 2018• 2h 1m•NR• English
MusicDrama
Storyline
Running through Bartók’s disenchanted tale, whose haunting music was initially condemned as unplayable, and the expression of despair in Poulenc’s monologue, the director Krzysztof Warlikowski perceives a shared dramatic thread, a shared feminine consciousness and a shared sense of imprisonment and suffocation: for the woman who penetrates the confines of Bluebeard’s castle and Elle, the woman who clings to a telephone conversation with a man as the only thing worth living for, are condemned to share the same fate. And this man she speaks to, does he really exist? Unless the director has interpreted Cocteau’s words to the letter and the telephone has become a “terrifying weapon that leaves no trace, makes no noise”…
Cast & Crew
John Relyea
Duc Barbe-Bleue
Lead
Ekaterina Gubanova
Judith
CB
Claude Bardouil
Him (silent role)
Barbara Hannigan
Her
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Self - Conductor
PN
Paris National Opera Orchestra
Self
What People Are Saying
0.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Stéphane Metge's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. Poulenc's The Human Voice / Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
