Also available on CD Jeanne d’Arc au Bucher, written by the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger in 1938, is a fascinating oratorio. The text by Paul...

Also available on CD

Jeanne d’Arc au Bucher, written by the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger in 1938, is a fascinating oratorio. The text by Paul Claudel is constructed like a flashback, in which Joan looks back over her life just before she dies.

Marion Cotillard plays Joan with an intensity and sincerity that leap from the screen. The last moments of the martyr’s life, illustrated by the evocative and innovative music of Honegger, resound like a heartrending cry. With an exceptional cast of performers, this live recording offers a gripping new version of one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century music.

-----

REVIEWS:

Cotillard movingly captures Jeanne's wildly contrasting moods while Xavier Gallas is consoling yet determined in supporting her. Most impressive of all, though, are the searing choral contributions that are convincing in their heartfelt gallic fervor, from an oppressed people, via baying crowd to angelic host.

– BBC Music Magazine

Cotillard marvelously captures Jeanne's innocence, toughness and terrifying doubts; Gallais is compassionate, tender, and at times tellingly fierce. The impact is immeasurably heightened on DVD by our being able to see both the sorrowing beauty of Gallais's face and the extraordinary way Cotillard's eyes let us know exactly what is going on in Jeanne's mind and soul.

– Gramophone