Repertoire

HONEGGER: Joan at the Stake

Artists

ORQUESTRA SIMFÒNICA DE BARCELONA I NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA (OBC)
Marc Soustrot, conductor
Marion Cotillard, Juana de Arco
Xavier Gallais, Priest Dominique
Yann Beuron, tenor – Porcus
Maria Hinojosa, soprano – The Virgin
Marta Almajano, soprano – Marguerite
Aude Extrémo, contralt – Catherine
Eric Martin-Bonnet, bass
Pep Planas, narrador
Carles Romero Vidal, narrador
Cor Lieder Càmera
Cor Madrigal
Cor Vivaldi

Program

Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard (who played Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose) will be playing Joan of Arc in the most ambitious and original musical version of the tale.By Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher (1938) is an imposing oratorio. Unlike other banal versions of the myth, the libretto is a highly original creation by French poet and playwright Paul Claudel, who perfectly dramatises the last moments of the martyr’s life (viewers can enjoy a simultaneous translation of the French verse by Miquel Desclot). Honegger highlights all the anguish and tension of Joan’s interrogation and subsequent execution. Originally written for actress Ida Rubinstein, an excellent ballerina and actress who was the first to perform the part, the oratorio is written as a flashback in which Joan recalls her life, just before she dies. A great film composer, Honegger creates visually evocative ambiances and fills the orchestra with new sounds (saxophones, ondes Martenot). The initial prologue to the piece was added in 1944 as a symbol of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of France: again, Joan goes beyond her own story.

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