Opera Queensland’s third mainstage production of the year, presented in partnership with Brisbane Festival and in association with Fluxus, is a double bill of two one-woman operas where a single phone call changes the course of each character’s life. First came Francis Poulenc’s The Human Voice, followed by the world première of The Call.

 The Human Voice, based on Jean Cocteau’s 1930 monodrama, was conceived and composed by Poulenc in 1958. Through a woman’s final phone call with a lover who has left her for someone else, the opera explores pandemic-fresh themes of disconnection and isolation. We hear only the solo character Elle’s dialogue, sung in French with English surtitles brought to life with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), conducted by Zoe Zeniodi.