La Voix Humaine

La Voix Humaine is a concerto for soprano and orchestra, centering on the break-up 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.