Hearing Voices

Jocelyn Pook’s dramatised song-cycle incorporates the testimonies of five women across different generations who have been diagnosed with a mental illness – artists Bobby Baker and Julie McNamara, nineteenth-century seamstress Agnes Richter and two of Pook’s relatives (her mother, Mary, and great aunt, Phyllis Williams). Both poignant and funny, the 45-minute piece is brought enthrallingly to life by mezzo-soprano Melanie Pappenheim. (Part of the Tête à Tête festival.)