La Voix humaine with Danielle de Niese

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales are joined by their Principal Guest Conductor, Jaime Martín, to perform two French stage works. In the first half we hear Ravel's Mother Goose, a work which draws on classic children's fairy tales and began life as a piano duet for children. Tonight it will be heard in its final version, after Ravel had orchestrated and reworked the piece for a full ballet production. After the interval, soprano Danielle de Niese portrays the unnamed, spurned lover in a semi-staged performance of Poulenc's devastatingly brilliant one-act opera, La Voix humaine. The opera is based on Cocteau's play of the same name, and features the one-sided conversation of a woman on the phone with her ex-lover; as their past history is revealed, so too are the depths of her despair.

Presented by Verity Sharp, recorded in Hoddinott Hall on January 30th.

Ravel: Mother Goose (ballet)
Poulenc: La Voix humaine

Danielle de Niese (soprano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Jaime Martín (conductor)

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