Today Panevėžys Music Theater opens the curtain for Poulenc's La voix humaine. The claustrophobic room described by Jean Cocteau gets a twist in this production to highlight the isolation and loneliness of the protagonist. It is a space where a phone gains existential importance, as it is her only connection with the outside world. 

Panevėžys Music Theater is set to shake up its audiences with the highly anticipated premiere of Francis Poulenc's "La voix humaine" on October 5, 2024. This one-act opera, renowned for its emotional depth and intense monologue, features a libretto by Jean Cocteau and centers on a woman's final phone conversation with her lover.

Video of the 2023 production of Massenet's sparkling masterpiece "Cendrillon" is now available in full length at the Youtube channel of Pärnu International Opera Music Festival PromFest. The video has English subtitles.

Opera "Cendrillon" will premiere today at the Kaunas State Musical Theatre, Lithuania. "Cendrillon" is an opera - described as a "fairy tale" - in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale.

The first rehearsal week of "Cendrillon" by Jules Massenet draws to an end. 
In this production, the Cinderella fairy tale takes place on the backdrop of the glamorous world of fashion, complete with runway shows and model fittings. The staging zooms in on the lives and ambitions of the wealthy and powerful De La Haltière family. It deals with the topic of dull reality versus irresistible virtual reality. And, of course, tells a story of a young woman living in forsaken circumstances whose life suddenly changes to remarkable fortune. Using the original ballet music of the piece, "Cendrillon" will have three fashion shows demonstrating the creations of the high-end fashion label De La Haltière. All of the collections are put together using the principles of circularity - redesigning garments and recapturing “waste” as a resource to manufacture new products.

Cendrillon is an opera described as a "fairy tale in music" by Jules Massenet, based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale. The opera is produced by  Pärnu International Opera Music Festival PromFest in cooperation with Kaunas State Musical Theatre. The premiere of the opera about overcoming self-doubt and achieving true happiness is set to take place on September 7th, 2023.

Now you can see the full video of modern dance performance "My name is Xiaodie but you can call me baby" online.
"Xiaodie" explores the pleasures found in technology and is danced to the beat of live music mix by Hannaliisa Uusma.

See the gallery from the opening night of "My name is Xiaodie but you can call me baby". Photos by Maris Tomba

Musicologist Kristel Pappel writes of her impressions from "Pierrot Lunaire in the fresh issue of monthly classical music magazine "Muusika"  giving the production an excellent review:

Nurms succeeded splendidly in walking on the edge of different eras - images and colors referring to 20th century cubism and Art Nouveau with contemporary refined, playful fashion design, all united under the term "stylization"

Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight") is a landmark in modern music by Arnold Schoenberg. It consists of 21 poems set to atonal music. The expressionistic text of the piece echoes German cabaret and is performed using Sprechgesang - an otherworldly style of dramatic vocalization intermediate between speech and song. A moonstruck production of "Pierrot Lunaire" opens 31 of March 2018 with soprano Ksenia Kuchukova in the title role. Date of the premiere also happens to mark the second Full Moon in March; a rare occurrence termed "the blue moon".