La voix humaine (1958) is a lyrical tragedy in one act for soprano and orchestra with music by Francis Poulenc based on the homonymous play by Jean Cocteau. The play (1929) premiered on February 17, 1930 at the Comédie-Française in Paris, while the opera premiered on February 6, 1959 at the Opéra Comique in Paris by Denise Duval and under the direction of Georges Prêtre. The composer finalized the score for voice and piano on June 2, 1958, a version that was performed at LIFE Victoria in 2019.

A woman, alone, in an apartment in Paris, late at night, desperately clings to a phone that is the only connection she has left with her partner and lover, who has abandoned her despite the fact that she does not accept it. Ridiculous - as she herself says - and annulled by this addiction to the other person, she has no name. It is simply elle (she), without even us as the public, knowing that there is truly a lui (he) on the other end of the phone. Throughout this hectic telephone conversation, the viewer discovers things in the life of this lonely woman, reaching a final desperate climax

The two resident artists of LIFE Victoria 2019, Mercedes Gancedo and Julius Drake collaborate for the first time presenting the pianistic version of this powerful opera by Poulenc.