Strauss’s 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.
In other words, 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.
NB no interval
Programme
La voix humaine will be sung in French with English surtitles
Performers
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Booking fees
£4 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
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The Strauss Project Part II
Barbican Hall
Location
The Barbican Hall is located within the main Barbican building. Head to Level G and follow the signs to find your seating level.
Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
We’ve plenty of places for you to relax and replenish, from coffee and cake to wood-fired pizzas and full pre-theatre menus
Mobility
Spaces for wheelchair users in row U at the rear of the stalls (up to sixteen, depth of row 180cm) and the back row of the circle (four), both with fold-down companion seats. Some seats in row S of the stalls for people with very limited mobility.
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs may be taken into the concert hall where there are a limited number of suitable seats in row G of the stalls. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the cloakroom staff during the performance.
Hearing facility
There is an induction loop in the concert hall. You can use this by adjusting your hearing aid to the ‘T’ setting.
Free large-print programmes
These are available for most of our concerts. Please contact [email protected] at least a week beforehand, to prebook a large-print programmme.
For more access information, please visit our Accessibility section.
