14 February 2025, Opera+, Svatava Barančicová

The Czech Philharmonic performed Honegger’s oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake on 13 February 2025. There are not many opportunities to hear a live performance of this dramatic work, because of its difficult staging and casting with the many soloists, singer and reciters and two choirs – a mixed and children’s choir. Moreover, we had the opportunity to hear it in the Rudolfinum just how it was written by poet Paul Claudel – purely in French.

Spectacular staging
It was Lukáš Vasilek who took up the task of staging Joan of Arc and his spectacular debut with the Czech Philharmonic. I did not know that the young and expressive director of the Prague Philharmonic Choir had such ambitions and gave me a very pleasant surprise. It was totally logical for him to choose an oratorio – a work where choirs have a prominent role. And it turned out that it was a good choice; the result was stunning.

As Vasilek said in a radio interview for Vltava station, it was a great advantage that he staged choirs and orchestra himself. Thus he could realise his idea to the fullest. Normally the choirmaster prepares the choir, then the conductor comes along with his concept and everything is different. Throughout the performance of Honegger’s oratorio you could feel that the choirs are the shaping component and the orchestra provides them with a sensitive accompaniment, psychologically enhances the plot, takes into account the soloists and the reciters, and does not draw attention to itself where ever it would be irritating. This does not mean that it was not emphatic and dynamically distinct where, on the contrary, the drama reaches its climax. A lovely example was the Card Game part in which something like a light court dance is repeated several times in various combinations of instruments. In the Joan’s Sword part you could hear the distant sound of a battle in Joan’s memories as she stands with her eyes closed. The orchestra played softly, like the echo of a tumult from a great distance. There are also a number of other colourfully sounding places in the oratorio where, for example, the orchestra divided into two alternately sounding halves imitated tolling bells. Lukáš Vasilek conducted the entire huge ensemble with an exuberant and then an energetically sweeping gesture, but also sometimes showed the entrances on his fingers, so that no-one was left in doubt.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir was excellently prepared – although we did hear that the flu epidemic had affected rehearsals here too. It is difficult to highlight all the beautiful places. At the start, when the crowd attacks the condemned Joan, the choir’s entrances were as precise and striking as the lash of a whip. A big impression was also made by the dynamically malleable long “brumendo” in the Joan’s Sword part. The singers sang as one, as one voice. Also impressive was the joyous episode of the country folk in the King arrives to Reims part, which brought much-needed relief from the sombre mood. The Kühn Children’s Choir (choirmasters Jiří Chvála and Petr Louženský) also excelled, even singing everything from memory in French and had some beautiful children’s solos.

Heroic performances
The Czech Philharmonic invited French reciters to collaborate in the spoken roles: the performance of film and theatre actress Audrey Bonnet who was reprising the role of Honegger’s Joan of Arc, was absolutely captivating. Her soulful and tragic performance was expressed right down to the last syllable. We saw real tears on her cheeks, her cries of despair pierced the mass of orchestral sound and human voices, which was a physically heroic performance by this small woman. We saw reconciliation as well as comforting childhood memories – at one point the actress sang a simple children’s song by herself in a broken voice. In the Joan of Arc in Flames part the space above the stage suddenly was coloured with red lighting as in the glow of a fire. That was a very powerful moment. Her guide, Brother Dominic, was recited by Sébastien Dutrieux, while the distinct Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant drew attention in smaller episodic roles. The reciters were placed in front and behind the orchestra. Above the stage we could follow the Czech and English translation of Claudel’s verses.

The soloists were also chosen well: dramatic soprano Susanne Bernhard (Virgin Mary) reigned in the closing parts of the oratorio over the animated ensemble. The mezzo-soprano of Anna Goryachova (St. Catherine) was a surprise with its dark sounding deep register and beautifully rang out in a duo with the clear soprano of Veronika Rovná (St. Marguerite). These soloists stood with the choir in the organ gallery. The male soloists stood below in front of the orchestra: American tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven had the important role in the animal court of presiding judge – Porcus (Pig), he hit the high tones with precision, but his voice was sometimes not enough for the huge ensemble behind him. Bass Zachary Altman, also a native of the US, sang Second herald; I was most impressed by the sweetly coloured lyrical tenor of Dovlet Nurgeldiyev (First Herald and Cleric).

After the final beats ended, there was a long silence in the sold out Dvořák’s Hall. Honegger’s message about hate, the ingratitude of the masses, who convert stars into potatoes, about the distortion of the truth, greed, betrayal of the powerful and punishment of the innocent is still alive and present today. Animals have power – there is no truth. Only after a while did the audience rise from its seats and rewarded all the actors with more than five minutes of applause.