Poulenc: La Voix Humaine / Gens, Bloch, Orchestre National de Lille

$15.99
Label
Alpha
Release Date
January 13, 2023
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Francis Poulenc
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Orchestre National De Lille
    • PERFORMER
      Veronique Gens, Alexandre Bloch
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 13, 2023
    • UPC
      3760014198991
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      ALPHA899
    • LABEL
      Alpha
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. Introduction

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    2. Allô! Allô!

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    3. Allô! C'est moi …

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    4. Hier soir, je me suis couchée tout de suite

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    5. Allô, chéri … Si on coupe redemande-moi tout de suite

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    6. Quelle comédie?

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    7. Souviens-toi du dimanche de Versailles

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    8. Demain? Je ne savais pas que c'était si rapide

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    9. Allô … et comme ça

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    10. Oh! non, mon chéri, surtout ne me regarde pas

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    11. Allô, allô, Medemoiselle

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    12. Allô! Ah! Chéri, c'est toi …

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    13. Hier soir j'ai voulu prendre un comprimé

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    14. Il était quatre heures du matin

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    15. Allô! J'entends de la musique …

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    16. Pardonne moi, je sais que cette scène est intolérable

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    17. Avent-hier soir? J'ai dormi

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    18. Allô, allô, Madame, retirez-vous

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    19. Sois tranquille. On ne se suicide pas de deux foix

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    20. Allô! … Allô! … Mon dieu, faites qu'il redemande

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    21. Alors, voilà … J'allais dire machinalement: À tout de suite

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Performer: Véronique Gens

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    22. I. Allegro con fuoco

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    23. II. Molto vivace

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    24. III. Andante cantabile

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch

    25. IV. Finale: Prestissimo et très gai

      Composer: Francis Poulenc

      Ensemble: Orchestre National de Lille

      Conductor: Alexandre Bloch


Véronique Gens’s version of La Voix humaine has been eagerly awaited! This ‘lyric tragedy in one act’ might have been written for her, so ideally suited are her feeling for language and her dramatic intensity to Poulenc’s monologue on a text by Jean Cocteau, composed in 1958. This is a far cry from the ‘light’ Poulenc of the 1920s. Cocteau paid him the highest compliment: ‘Dear Francis, you have fixed, once and for all, the way to speak my text.’ Véronique Gens confesses that she had always wanted to perform and record this piece; now she has achieved her ambition, in close partnership with the Orchestre National de Lille under its music director Alexandre Bloch. Also featured on the album is the Sinfonietta: this is in fact a genuine symphony, but, as Nicolas Southon writes, ‘there is no denying that the work – commissioned by the BBC in 1947 – has a freshness and a freedom of tone that justify its title’.

REVIEW:

La voix humaine is a monodrama. Gens had long wished to sing and record the piece, and was asked to perform it many times. She waited till she was ready for such a demanding piece, a work she must carry for forty minutes of, at times, very intense solo singing. Poulenc’s favourite soprano Denise Duval performed it first. She almost co-composed the piece.

It is clear that Madame Gens has really thought through the work and what it requires. Her decision to wait to be certain before she was ready to tackle this piece would seem to have paid off handsomely. This is an outstanding interpretation, the right artist recording the right work at the right time. That top C is nailed alright, and at the few other moments of “real singing” her familiar sound and line are as eloquent as usual. But the rest, the ‘heightened talking’, is equally persuasive, realistic and moving. Of course, that realism is also distressing, as we eavesdrop on deep personal anguish. At one point, Elle confesses to a suicide attempt. Some listeners will surely find the work rather harrowing, not one for everyday listening. But if one of the duties of art is to portray life in all its grimness as well as all its glory, then La voix humaine should be heard.

-- MusicWeb International