Joan at the Stake – Featuring Marion Cotillard
Oratorio by Arthur Honegger, text by Paul Claudel
Thank you for your understanding.
Cast
Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC)
Marc Soustrot — Conductor
Marion Cotillard — Jeanne d’Arc
Xavier Gallais — Brother Dominique
Yann Beuron — A voice, Porcus, Herald I, Chaplain
Maria Hinojosa — The Virgin
Marta Almajano — Marguerite
Aude Extrémo — Catherine
Anna Moreno-Lasalle — Mother of Barrels
Eric Martin-Bonnet — A voice, Herald II, Peasant
Carles Romero Vidal — Herald, the ass, Bedford, J. de Luxembourg, Grinder Trusty, Peasant
Pep Planas — The Usher, R. de Chartres, G. de Flavy, Perrot, Priest
Vivaldi choir
Lieder Càmera choir
Madrigal choir
Program notes
Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard joins the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (Barcelona Symphony Orchestra) for a performance of Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher, broadcast live on medici.tv!
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. 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.
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher
©1938, by Honegger, Arthur Oscar & Claudel,Paul Louis Charles. Authorized by Francis Salabert Ed. S.A. to Universal Music Publishing S.L. All rights reserved.
