La Voix humaine

La Voix Humaine is a concerto for soprano and orchestra centering on the breakup of a relationship by telephone It represents one side of a conversation between a young woman sung by American soprano Julia Migenes and her lover who has jilted her In a 1930s Parisian apartment a woman is seen making for the door As she passes the telephone it rings From now on she sings sitting standing on her knees pacing up and down the room pulling at the telephone cord going through every emotion until ultimately in despair she takes her own life Jean Cocteau wrote it is not just that the telephone is sometimes more dangerous than the revolver but that its tangled cord drains us of our strength while giving us nothing in return