Poulenc: La voix humaine & Cocteau: Le bel indifférent

• Jean Cocteau: Le bel indifférent (Spoken word) Edith Piaf (narrator)

Denise Duval was Francis Poulenc’s muse, the soprano for whom he composed the roles of Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, Thérèse in Les Mamelles de Tirésias and “Elle” in La Voix humaine – the nameless Parisienne who, in Jean Cocteau’s skillfully crafted libretto, engages in a tortuous, one-sided telephone conversation with her lover. This compelling solo opera is paired here with a Cocteau monodrama for spoken voice, Le bel indifférent. It stars Edith Piaf, best known, of course, as France’s emblematic popular singer.