Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bucher
Knabenchor Collegium iuvenum Stuttgart, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Radiosinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Helmuth Rilling
Rilling captures the shifting moods - passion, lyricism, vulgarity, suffering - with superb elan. If Joan's notated spoken interpretations are not always precisely in place, that's a small price...
Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bucher
Knabenchor Collegium iuvenum Stuttgart, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Radiosinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Helmuth Rilling
Purchase product
Rilling captures the shifting moods - passion, lyricism, vulgarity, suffering - with superb elan. If Joan's notated spoken interpretations are not always precisely in place, that's a small price...
About
The most recent recording from Helmuth Rilling and his Stuttgart Ensembles.
Sung in the original French.
Compelling interpretation of a unique work.
A publication of one of the Great Vocal Works.
In the series of great oratorios that Helmuth Rilling has devoted his life to recording, such a seminal work like Arthur Honegger's dramatic oratorio "Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher", composed in 1935 is not missing. This 2011 recording shines with an outstanding team of both outstanding singers and choirs. They play a major role in the work’s structure, commenting on the story and the experiences of Jeanne.
The text comes from the French poet Paul Claudel. He and the composer were made for each other. They created a folk play, wherein the words and music stand equally side by side; the choir and rich colorful orchestrations are in perfect balance with the spoken word. It is always only a small step from medieval naivety to modern monumentalism, a step which Honegger makes masterfully and effectively.
Contents and tracklist
- Letizia Scherrer (soprano), Stefan Muller-Ruppert (narrator), Kismara Pessatti (alto), Jean-Noel Briend (tenor), Sylvie Rohrer (narrator), Eors Kisfaludy (narrator), Karen Wierzba (soprano), Francois le Roux (bass), Martine Saniter (narrator), Jean-Pierre Ouellet (narrator), Florian Schmitt-Bohn (narrator)
- Gächinger Kantorei, Stuttgart Collegium Iuvenum, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
- Helmuth Rilling
- Recorded: 2011
Awards and reviews
December 2013
Rilling captures the shifting moods - passion, lyricism, vulgarity, suffering - with superb elan. If Joan's notated spoken interpretations are not always precisely in place, that's a small price to pay.
11th February 2014
Rilling handles most of the score very well. He imparts colour and liveliness to Scene VIII, parts of which are the weaker passages in the score...He obtains very good, incisive playing from the orchestra and the adult choir sings admirably. So too does the children’s choir, who do well in Scene IX, sounding like cultivated urchins
