La voix humaine

"Recording of the week: What's most remarkable about Gens's interpretation is how much she emphasises Elle's warmth and wit as well as her anger, paranoia and heartbreak ... And as with her matchless portrayals of Classical heroines, she never descends into scenery-chewing melodrama - even when the emotional temperature hits boiling-point, her diction throughout remains so cut-glass that French-speakers will have no need of the text provided in the booklet".

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"Musically speaking, both operas are projected with a raw power that they fully justify. The singing and orchestral playing is flawless, the latter acknowledged by the roar of approval for Esa-Pekka Salonen at the end, almost as loud as that for Barbara Hannigan. The singers appear to take on board the konzept, whatever it might be, and act and sing their parts with utter commitment. Barbara Hannigan does such a good job she comes close to eclipsing the others; surely no finer singer-actress exists today. Relyea has a powerful and flexible voice, so he can convincingly command the audience and also Judith, superbly sung by the Mariinsky's Ekaterina Gubanova. If you want these two operas ... this is almost it".

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"La voix humaine isn't easy listening, nor is it meant to be ... In this performance, the quality of orchestral playing is very good, very sensitively attuned to the voice part, and quite fascinating on its own terms ... Another reason why La Voix works so well on film is that an infinite amount can be conveyed by body language. Farley is a natural stage person ... There's a lovely lyrical perkiness in her voice, too".

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"Poulencs opera i én akt og med kun én sanger ... Det kræver et ekstremt dramatisk talent at bringe karakteren Elle til live, men Veronique Gens' ... sprogfornemmelse og dramatiske intensitet passer perfekt til værket ... Opførelser af værket er hyppigere forekommende i dag, men indspilninger af værket er stadig sjældne".

"Editor's choice: There is little question that it ranks among her finest achievements ... Gens and Bloch take us through this complex terrain in ways that combine directness with admirable restraint ... The desperation she feels when he angrily hang up on her at one point is simply heartbreaking. Bloch, meanwhile, is with her every step of the way ... and the Lille orchestra's playing is consistently superb ... This is an outstanding recording, and very highly recommended".

"Regisseur Krysztof Warlikowski zeigt souverän, was er kann, es wird eine Zimmer-schlacht in schickem Ambiente ... Esa-Pekka Salonen dirigiert mit gleissend scharfer Eleganz".

"This isn't a unique merging of two one-act operas' as the packaging breathlessly exclaims. It's a decent staging of Bartók's work followed by a poor staging of Poulenc's ... On DVD Bluebeard goes well enough ... Ekaterina Gubanova sings Judith with thrilling fortitude ... John Relyea's is a warm-voiced and increasingly troubled Bluebeard ... Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts with the edge and ear for colour that you'd expect ... [In] La Voix Humaine ... despite Barbara Hannigan's compulsively agile vocal performance - Salonen is the perfect partner to her here, too - her semi-choreographed physical caricature ... misses almost all of its contradictory emotions ... Warlikowski's penchant for naff, disposable symbolism ... certainly stands in direct contrast to the conviction of the musical performances".