VOICES OF LIGHT Comes To Midland Center 3/21, 3/22

Music Society brings one of cinema's supreme achievements to the Main Auditorium of Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews Rd., Midland, MI, on Saturday, March 21 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. "Voices of Light: The Passion of Joan of Arc" is a complete experience: emotional, intellectual and spiritual. Danish filmmaker Carl Theodore Dreyer's eccentric 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc has been declared one of the top ten black-and-white films ever created.

Deeply moved by a viewing of the film, composer Richard Einhorn wrote "Voices of Light" in 1994, an oratorio for soloists, chorus and orchestra performed live during viewing of the film. His score resonates with sweeping medieval harmonies and a majestic solemnity that's a fine match for the film. This rare and emotionally compelling experience has had sold-out houses rising to their feet the world over. Music Society Artistic Director Jim Hohmeyer conducts the Music Society Orchestra and Music Society Chorale, with soloists Grace Marra, Jennifer Breneman, Glenn Perry, and David King. Suitable for ages middle school and older, all tickets are $20. Call Ticket Office at (989) 631-8250 or (800) 523-7649 or www.mcfta.org. Sponsored by Hopfensperger's Hair Design.

A Divine Mission
Joan of Arc challenges the very meaning of holiness: her closest companions were brutal soldiers, and she actively participated in destroying the English forces at Orleans. Born an illiterate farm girl, she became France's 15th-century mystic-warrior "Maid of Orleans." In the midst of the Hundred Years War between England and France, Joan was told by "voices of light" that she had been given a divine mission to reunite France. Believing she was on a mission from God, the 17-year-old rallied French troops to important victories before being captured by the English and turned over to an ecclesiastical court composed of French clerics who supported the English.

"The Passion of Joan of Arc" begins its account of Joan's life with her trial for heresy. The film shows the young woman being interrogated, threatened and cajoled by French clergymen, ultimately concluding with the 19-year-old Joan's excommunication and fiery death at the stake. In 1920, nearly 500 years after her death, Joan was declared a saint, the only saint who was first excommunicated and burned.

Fire & Rebirth
The film's mysterious history mirrors Joan of Arc's own tumultuous 500-year path from heretic to sainthood. Twice thought lost completely to fire, all that was believed to remain of the original film were incomplete knock-offs cobbled together from inferior outtakes, deeply edited to satisfy extremists within both church and state. In a surprise discovery that parallels Joan's resurrection and transcendence, a nearly perfect copy of the film was discovered in 1981 in the closet of a Norwegian mental hospital, apparently ordered by a doctor in 1930 and then forgotten. This version, called the "Oslo print," had some damage but was digitally restored to pristine condition after 20,320 splices, scratches, cue marks and other imperfections were removed.

Dreyer's avant-garde approach to the project made this his most radical film. The film's visual style makes generous use of close-ups, off-kilter images and unexpected points of view, pulling the viewer into the psyche of the subject. His editing rhythm breaks nearly every rule of the craft. It clearly influenced such filmmakers as Bergman, Fellini, and Hitchcock. In portraying Joan, French actress Renee Falconetti's face, with its uncanny glowing eyes and mournful looks, proved an ideal map for the emotional territory the director wanted to explore. Hers has rightly been called one of cinema's greatest timeless performances. The thrust of the film is the power of spiritual opposition to earthly ambition and corruption.

To achieve the director's demand for realism, the film's dialogue drew almost entirely on transcripts of Joan's 1429 trial for heresy. The use of makeup was forbidden, and those playing the roles of churchmen were required to cut their hair into "tonsures" - bald heads with a fringe of hair - despite the fact that for many actors the hairstyle was invisible under their costumes of grandiose caps worn throughout.

A New Perspective
Richard Einhorn's libretto consists of excerpts from writings of female mystics from the Middle Ages, including Joan herself. Chosen for their beauty as literature and also for their relevance to themes in Joan's life, all the words sung in the score are in Latin, Old and Middle French and Italian. "The notion of a work of art with simultaneous layers of text struck me as a medieval idea that is delightfully modern as well," remarked the composer. USA Today called the work "... the most successful melding yet of classic cinema and live music ... full of deft touches." The hauntingly moving "Voices of Light" perfectly completes the film-viewer's experience.

"The preparation for this concert has been a fresh and very different artistic experience for all of the performers," says Music Society Artistic Director Jim Hohmeyer. "New to the programming mix of performance centers are performances such as this: black and white silent films, accompanied by a live orchestra and singers. This particular piece has deep emotional impact and is a different type of art, important because it challenges our precepts and forces us to examine the assumptions by which we live our daily lives."

Music Society of the Midland Center for the Arts is a premier, volunteer musical arts organization serving mid-Michigan. It provides volunteers and audiences with exciting, quality musical events, utilizing professionals to educate and develop its talented, community-based participants.

Midland Center for the Arts, Inc. is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation formed under the laws of the State of Michigan incorporating six groups: Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, MATRIX:MIDLAND, Midland County Historical Society, Midland Symphony Orchestra, Music Society and Theatre Guild. Activities at Midland Center for the Arts are supported in part by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. For the latest Center news, visit our web site at www.mcfta.org.

 

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