Over the past year, many of life�s pleasures have faded into memory. Visits with family and friends, embraces, unmasked smiles from strangers, travel to new places, restaurant visits, and cultural and sporting entertainment have been replaced by Zoom calls and live streamed events. Opera audiences accustomed to delighting in the unamplified voice have been forced to consume the grandiose art form on a screen. New productions have had to adhere to strict protocols by hiring small casts, using little or no orchestra or chorus, and in some cases, implementing onstage physical distancing. During these times of isolation, one may have expected companies to comfort pandemic-weary audiences with familiar works like La Bohème, The Magic Flute, or The Barber of Seville. Yet in 2020, Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau’s relatively obscure…
