Strauss Metamorphosen
Poulenc La voix humaine
Sung in French with English surtitles
Barbara Hannigan conductor & soprano
London Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Hannigan, Denis Guéguin, Clemens Malinowski direction & video
Clemens Malinowski live video for Poulenc’s La voix humaine
Julien Bourdin sound engineer
Michalis Boliakis rehearsal pianist & musical assistant
NB no interval
Generously supported by the Jeremy and John Sacher Charitable Trust.
Tickets: £60 £48 £35 £24 £18
£3 online booking fee, £4 telephone booking fee per transaction - click here for more information on booking fees
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Please note that finish times are approximate and subject to change
Strauss’ Metamorphosen and Poulenc’s La voix humaine: two stories of emotion in the raw from Barbara Hannigan, an artist who shoots straight for the heart and never misses.
Elderly and afraid, Richard Strauss saw his world burning – and poured all his agony into a searing wordless elegy for string orchestra. Francis Poulenc took a script by Cocteau about a woman in despair, and transformed it into an opera like no other; a telephone call that burns itself onto your memory.
This is a concert that’s pure Barbara Hannigan – the Canadian soprano and conductor whose performances are as fearless as they are penetrating. ‘I find my comfort zone in the wilderness’, she says, and tonight she appears both as conductor and as the central figure in the one-woman opera that Poulenc described as ‘tender and violent, living and cruel, sentimental and sensual’. With the added element of live and pre-recorded video on the big screen, expect no compromises: just uncompromising emotion, and souls stripped bare.
Click here for the latest infomation on the measures that are being taken for the safety and comfort of visitors to the Barbican Centre, including wearing a face covering.
Standard seating is being used in most of the Hall for this concert. Audience members who would prefer to sit in a socially distanced environment can choose to book seats in the Balcony.
Available seats will be spaced 1 metre apart, and are indicated by an information flag when making your selection during the booking process. Those booking two or more adjacent seats are welcome to move together to sit as one group on the evening of the concert. All audience members are asked to wear a face covering unless exempt.
Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
Download the concert programme to read in advance or pick up a free printed copy on the night.
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