Published: 31 October 2011
Category: Artists

Marin Alsop marks the 600th anniversary of the birth of the French heroine, soldier and martyr, Joan of Arc, with performances in London, Baltimore and New York.

Marin Alsop’s Joan of Arc project begins in London, as she returns once again to work with the London Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican Centre. On 4 November she conducts Arthur Honegger’s dramatic oratorio, Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (1935), sung in French with English surtitles, in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning director, James Robinson. The cast includes narrators Amira Casar (Jeanne d’Arc) and David Wilson-Johnson (Frère Dominique) and soloists Klara Ek, Katherine Broderick, Kelley O’Connor, Paul Nilon and Jonathan Lemalu. This large-scale work, which depicts the final hours of Joan of Arc’s life, features the Ondes Martenot (played by Cynthia Millar) and two choruses: the London Symphony Orchestra and the New London Children’s Choir.

Her second performance on 6 November, as part of this project with the London Symphony Orchestra, is Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light (1994). The London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will be joined by Synergy Vocals (singing the voice of Joan), as Marin Alsop conducts a live soundtrack to Carl Dreyer’s silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928).

Also as part of this project, Marin Alsop and the London Symphony Orchestra have constructed a series of events on contemporary subjects, associated with Joan of Arc. As a pre-concert event at the Barbican on 4 November, Marin Alsop and LSO Managing Director Kathryn McDowell take part in a debate entitled ‘Women and Leadership’, alongside guests including Dame Mary Marsh (former NSPCC chief executive), dealing with modern-day issues that also affected Joan of Arc in the 15th century. On 5 November LSO St Luke’s hosts a symposium on the subject of ‘Women in the Church’, where Marin Alsop will be joined by Anglican clergy, including The Revd Lucy Winkett (Rector of St James’s Piccadilly and formerly a professional singer), and the composer Richard Einhorn.

On 19 November, Marin Alsop continues her celebration of Joan of Arc at Carnegie Hall, New York, where she will conduct her own Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher. James Robinson directs this semi-staged performance, and Kelley O’Connor once again sings the role of Catherine. Additional performances in Baltimore, as part of Marin Alsop’s 2011/12 season celebrating outstanding women, are on November 17 and 18. Click here to see a video of Marin Alsop’s introduction to this work.

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