Venue, Timing and Cost
Orchestra VOX presents an opera double-bill
2, 3, 4 February, 2024
Two operas where women tell their own stories…
'La Voix Humaine' by Francis Poulenc
'Erwartung' by Arnold Schoenberg
Orchestra VOX presents the two most riveting psychological thrillers of 20th-century opera. Each opera features a single soprano and orchestra – and in these operas, the women claim their own agency to tell their stories.
In Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine (‘The Human Voice’), a woman struggles to cope with her life after being abandoned by her lover. She seeks truth, and a reason to live. The opera, based on Cocteau’s play of the same name, gives life to an internal dialogue of a woman not seen in previous operas.
Erwartung
In Schoenberg’s Erwartung, on the other hand, a woman wanders alone in a forest: she encounters fear, doubt, and moments of courage. Schoenberg wrote that he intended to ‘represent in slow motion everything that occurs during a single second of maximum spiritual excitement, stretching it out to half an hour’.
Both of these operas are free from the sentimentalism of 19th-century opera, and give voice to complex psychological states. The heroines are real, raw, and un-romanticised.
These opera will be brought to life by award-winning West End director Jonny Danciger. La Voix Humaine stars St John’s alumna Sophia Kirwen-Baez, and Erwartung stars Laura Coppinger, also an Oxford alumna.
CAST
DIRECTOR: Jonny Danciger
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Hannah von Wiehler
Soprano, La Voix Humaine: Sophia Kirwan-Baez (St John’s Alumna)
Soprano, Erwartung: Laura Coppinger
Purchase tickets on the Orchestra VOX website. Performances are at 19.30 on 2 and 3 and at 14.30 on 4 February.
There will be a Pre-Opera Talk and Reception with Dr. Sasha Rasmussen prior to the performance on 2 February. Please ensure to sign up for that separately.