Pegasus Opera Company and Hagemann Rosenthal Associates are proud to present a double bill featuring the gripping female-driven stories of Roman Fever by Philip Hagemann and The Human Voice (La Voix Humaine) by Francis Poulenc. This production is led by a female cast and creative team, under the direction of award-winning actor and director, Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE, conducted by Rebecca Tong, with scenic design by Linbury prize winner, Peiyao Wang, and starring world-renowned singers, Alison Buchanan, Nadine Benjamin and Bernadine Pritchett.
Roman Fever
Roman Fever, adapted from the short story by acclaimed American writer, Edith Wharton, comes to life on the operatic stage for the first time in the UK. Philip Hagemann premiered the opera for the first time in Santa Fe, New Mexico 1989. The story revolves around Grace Ansley and Alida Slade, both widows from Manhattan, who take their daughters to Rome to share with them the memories of their youth. Whilst in Rome tensions rise as Alida’s jealousy towards Grace, who has always looked down on her, comes to the surface. The story takes twists and turns as it dissects the mysteries of relationships culminating in a shocking revelation. Hagemann’s music cradles the words, moods, and action, in silken melodic strokes with touches of dissonances to highlight the feelings of the ladies toward each other.
The Human Voice (La Voix Humaine)
The Human Voice (La Voix Humaine) is a forty-minute, one-act opera for soprano and orchestra composed by Francis Poulenc in 1958. The opera focuses on a single character known as “she” who was abandoned by her lover who is now about to be married. The opera highlights her last telephone conversation with him and probes the dynamics of relationships. Poulenc waited thirty years before composing this opera, feeling he needed to experience relationships himself before committing this story to music. The result is a powerful fusion of words and music.
