Subject: Joan of Arc (Honegger): Proms 27Jul97

Joan of Arc      Fiona Shaw
Brother Dominic  John Wood
Virgin Mary      Eileen Hulse
Margaret         Sarah Connolly
Catherine        Alice Coote
Porcus/Clerk     John Graham-Hall
Herald           Christopher Purves
Child            Dominic Keating Roberts

Jenny Galloway, Toby Jones, Robert Langdon Lloyd

Director         Deborah Warner
Conductor        Libor Pesek

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
Philharmonic Youth Choir

Honegger's Joan of Arc is described in the programme as an oratorio, but
it's definitely a theatre piece. Joan at the stake recalls the events of
her life through scenes in various genres -- a mayday dance and song, a
mock-comic trial performed by animals (the pig as judge, the sheep as
jury), a game of cards. The frame is literary (Brother Dominic reads Joan
the story of her life from a mystical book) but the episodes are dramatic.
The music is more or less through composed, often with the chorus singing
behind the actors.

On the whole, it worked better than last year's music theatre Prom, Der
Silbersee, if only because that had separate lots of singers and actors and
didn't have a chance as theatre.

For St Joan, Deborah Warner used platforms in the arena for the actors,
with Fiona Shaw as Joan on the highest platform in the middle and the
others moving among the audience between the other platforms. All the
actors were miked, as were the male singers. The divine voices sang from
the organist's seat, and from the gallery of the hall, which had a suitably
ethereal effect.

The overall result was a bit confusing. The actors weren't visible above
the audience, and the running around was difficult to follow. In addition,
there were translations of the Latin parts of the text projected on screens
above the choir, plus some funny photographs. But there was no way most
people could watch the projections and the actors. (Also, they handed out
wine to the audience as part of the action, and *I didn't get any*.)

On the whole, though, it was very enjoyable, a easily digestible mixture of
singspiel and mediaeval and folk elements. The darker prologue, added
during the Nazi occupation of France, was poignant. But the central conceit
of Joan merging with the flames at the stake to become a beacon for France
seems expressive rather than political.

Fiona Shaw was spot on as St Joan. Of the singers, John Graham-Hall was
particularly obnoxious as the pig and other time-serving representatives of
the establishment. He was wearing a nasty variant of evening dress (black
shirt, white tie and dickie), and I originally thought that someone should
have a word about performance wear. But it was obviously part of his
characterization.

The choirs and orchestra were excellent.

Following Paul Fryer's comment about the turnout for Violanta, it's
probably worth mentioning that the hall was packed for St Joan. Maybe it's
the difference between a Thursday night and a Sunday. Maybe (as the man in
the queue who thought he knew the lot said) it's because St Joan is a dyke
icon. But I don't think many of the audience looked as if they had a
special interest  in Sapphism or in Les Six (Satie and Poulenc in the first
half). In fact, the arena looked pretty full to me for Violanta -- but the
sitting crowd, especially the stalls, are mainly middle middle brow, and
more likely to turn up for Fiona Shaw.