|
|
|
|
|
|
Critics Corner Music Speaks Her Passion The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay gives voice to a silent film's Joan of Arc. One of the greatest acting performances ever was that of Renee Maria Falconetti in the French silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc. - Her portrayal of Joan of Arc endures not just in the occasional screening of Danish director Carl Dreyer's 1928 masterpiece but also in contemporary American composer Richard Einhorn's multimedia extravaganza, Voices of Light, which is being produced next weekend by the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. Remarkably, The Passion of Joan of Arc was Falconetti's only movie. "It may be the finest performance ever recorded on film," wrote Pauline Kael, movie critic of the New Yorker. "What was amazing about this actress was her intensity," said Richard Zielinski, artistic director of the Master Chorale, who has closely studied the Dreyer film to prepare for conducting the Einhorn work. "Her performance is so real because of the starkness of the black and white, the close-ups and her facial expressions. You really do get a sense of the personal and spiritual side of this individual." The Passion of Joan of Arc focuses on the trial of the legendary teenage maid of Orleans who, dressed as a boy, led the French army in a defeat of the British during the 100 Years War. But then she was accused of heresy for her visions and burned at the stake. Joan of Arc 1412-1431 became a national symbol of France who was made a Catholic saint in the 1920s. For Voices of Light, the film will be shown on a screen above the stage while Einhorn's score and libretto is performed by the 140-voice Master Chorale, an orchestra of about 35 players and vocal soloists. Four female singers represent the "Spirit of Joan." The coordination of film and live performance can be tricky. There are hundreds of visual cues that the conductor must follow via a monitor. "It's my job to keep the movie and the score together," Zielinski said. "All the musical cues are off action in the movie. I need to be at a certain measure when a certain action occurs. You can't get too far ahead or behind. Everything is timed. For 82 minutes we have to be on the mark. I think people will be mesmerized by the heightened emotion that one experiences when they're hearing the live sound with this very dramatic movie." Silent film classics City Lights, The Phantom of the Opera and Alexander Nevsky have all been shown with music played by an orchestra in the Tampa Bay area in recent memory. What makes Einhorn's treatment of The Passion of Joan of Arc unusual is the composer's oratorio, which has a text in Latin and French, mainly drawn from medieval mystics, including Joan of Arc herself, and the Bible. "All the quotes from Hildegarde of Bingen and other medieval women are incredible," Zielinski said. "They heighten the emotion and passion of the message that you see on the screen. We're not always singing about exactly what the subtitles are saying on the screen. We're in the emotional state of what's happening to Joan of Arc." The Einhorn score has been compared to the music of Gorecki and Part and other so-called mystic minimalists from Eastern Europe. "We use a lot of different vocal techniques, ranging from an early music style with no vibrato to the almost Verdian style of choruses in the protest and torture scenes," Zielinski said. "The writing for some of the instrumental solos is very romantic." With a budget of about $150,000, Voices of Light is one of the Master Chorale's biggest projects. "It's cutting-edge art," said Zielinski, who is head of choral activities at the University of South Florida. "This is something that I don't see a lot of in this area." The choir's performing of the Einhorn oratorio is "stretching us artistically as well as spiritually," Zielinski said. "For me, it is about the religious conviction that this young woman had. It's made me think a lot about my own faith and what I believe in. She had such a powerful faith." John Fleming can be reached at (727) 893-8716 or fleming@sptimes.com. Voices of Light' The Master Chorale, orchestra and vocal soloists perform Richard Einhorn's oratorio to a screening of the classic silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday at Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, and 4 p.m. May 6 at Morsani Hall of Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa. $17.50-$32.50. (813) 974-7726; www.masterchorale.com.
|
|
Get Email Updates
