Voznesenskaya - only too human
by Neil McGowan

La Voix Humaine (concert performance)
Vremena Goda Festival
Vremena Goda Orchestra/Bulakhov
29 September 2004

Bringing down the curtain on the Vremena Goda Festival this year was the Festival's first-ever operatic offering - Poulenc's "La Voix Humaine". 2004 has been something of a treat for Poulenc fans in Moscow, who have had little to celebrate hereto - but this year we've had both The Carmelites (in a searing Helikon Opera production) and now La Voix Humaine. The chances of getting Les Mamelles de Tiresias as a Christmas cracker are a little remote, however - by Christmas, two of Moscow's four main houses (Stanislavsky-Muzykal'ny and Helikon) will be in mothballs for long-overdue reconstruction work. The Bol'shoi struggles to stay open despite having the builders in the lobby, and only Novaya Opera enjoy the luxury of adequate new facilities. In a staggering waste of resources, the Vishnevskaya Opera Theatre is kept dark for all but 2-3 nights per month, when students of the Opera School perform at its prestige-address new premises.

[Remainder of article here]

Also, take a look at Neil's review of Rigoletto at Ex-Prompt Theatre for Children, Moscow.

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