Opera Night performance: La Voix Humaine

Saturday, June 3, 2023 From 7:00 PM To 8:30 PM Add to Calendar 2023-06-03 19:00:00 2023-06-03 20:30:00 Opera Night performance: La Voix Humaine Composed in 1958 by French composer Francis Poulenc, La voix humaine is a one-act chamber opera scored for a single voice and piano. The work features a text by Jean Cocteau, and details one side of a conversation between two lovers as they navigate their relationship over the phone. French Library, 53 Marlborough St, Boston, Massachusetts, United States America/New_York

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Music lovers, joins us for a fabulous opera night at the French Library!

To celebrate la fête de la musique, the French Library welcomes soprano Jamila Drecker-Waxman and pianist Brian Moll in their rendition of Poulenc's "musical confession."

Composed in 1958 by French composer Francis Poulenc, La voix humaine is a one-act chamber opera scored for a single voice and piano. The work features a text by Jean Cocteau, and details one side of a conversation between two lovers as they navigate their relationship over the phone.

Their struggle to communicate with honesty is mirrored by a plague of technical difficulties, static, and miscommunications with the operator.

In a world of increasing modernity, La voix humaine reveals an innate and deep-rooted longing for human connection that remains poignant even on the 60th anniversary of Poulenc's death.

Event in French and in English

Member

$28

Non-member

$40

About Jamila Drecker-Waxman

Soprano Jamila Drecker-Waxman has distinguished herself for her rich tone and vibrant performances in operatic, concert, and recital settings. Jamila received a Master of Music from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she performed the roles of Susannah in Floyd’s Susannah (2022), Vitellia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito (2021), and Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (2020), and studied with Rebecca Folsom. Her other recent engagements include the role of Mimì in Puccini’s La bohéme at the Bay View Music Festival (2022), as well as the roles of Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (2021) and Noémie in Massanet’s Cendrillon (2021) at Opera in the Ozarks. While receiving her Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College, Jamila performed the role of Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), and was featured as a soloist in The World, This Wall, and Me (Bussewitz-Quaram), Magnificat (Pärt), Art is Calling for Me (Herbert), Considering Matthew Shepard (Hella-Johnson), Messiah (Handel), and Laudate Dominum (Mozart). This summer, Jamila looks forward to performing the role of The House in Anna Chatterton’s The Rocking Horse Winner with Opera Maine.

About Brian Moll

Brian Moll is a vocal coach and instructor of French song repertory at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee as well as the chair of vocal and keyboard studies at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. He is also on the faculty of the New England Conservatory, where he is an instructor of the French art song. As a keyboardist, Moll has worked with Emmanuel Music, Boston Baroque, and the Handel and Haydn Society chorus and orchestra. He also served as assistant conductor and pianist for stage productions by the Boston Lyric Opera, Opera North, and Boston Midsummer Opera. He has appeared at the Strings in the Mountains Festival (Colorado) and at the New Hampshire Music Festival, and he has been on the summer faculty of the Lied Austria program (Graz, Austria). A graduate of Hamilton College, Moll earned further degrees from the Hochschule für Musik (Vienna, Austria) and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he studied with Martin Katz. While in Vienna, he earned diplomas with distinction in piano and organ and also taught as a Fulbright teaching assistant. He has given recitals as a pianist and organist in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Bulgaria, and throughout the United States, and he has performed with singers Barbara Kilduff, Barbara Quintiliani, Sheri Greenawald, Wolfgang Brendel, Sir Thomas Allen, Kevin Deas, Yeghishe Manucharyan, Kelly Kaduce, Andrew Garland, Pamela Dellal, and Sara Heaton. Moll has appeared in such prestigious halls as Vienna's Mozartsaal, Austria's Haydnsaal at the Esterhazy Castle, Tokyo's Lilia Hall, and Boston's Jordan Hall.

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Looking for that perfect Friday night plan? Kick-off your weekend with our beloved Dancing Off the Page! Move to the beat while you enjoy live music, wine, and French delicatessen. Bring your crew or come alone to meet new friends and enjoy this one-of-a-kind "French" night! Let’s party en français !