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Boise Philharmonic and Master Chorale open 2009 season with passion
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The Boise Philharmonic’s search for a new music director is paying dividends in creative directions for the Boise classical performance group. The opening concert of 2009 was unique in that it paired the Philharmonic with the Boise Master Chorale in a performance combining film, voice and instrumentation.
“The Passion of Joan of Arc” is a classic 1928 silent film, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
In 1988, composer Richard Einhorn was so moved by the beauty of the film that he composed an accompanying cantata, “Visions of Light.”
Conductor and new Music Director Robert Franz introduced the evening’s performance by noting the film’s journey through two fires, and its discovery in a janitor’s closet at a mental institution.
The Philharmonic opened with a short brass fanfare, and as the opening credits rolled the audience was drawn into the drama of the experience with musical anxiety.
The orchestra had a warm sound throughout the work, utilizing heavy amounts of stringed instruments. Franz was masterful in syncing voice with instrumentation.
Einhorn chose to compose music that created an accompanying atmosphere rather than something more intrusive, and the audience’s focus was largely on the film above the orchestra.
Largely shot from low angles suggesting inferiority toward the power of the church, the music highlighted moments of honesty in Joan’s testimony that would lead to her end. Einhorn typically used small groups of singers and instrumental accompaniment during more intimate scenes, but in scenes involving larger groups of people, the performers achieved great drama as the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts was bathed in vigorous sound.
The entire performance was received with great adoration and a double standing ovation. Many people were left in tears, and there is no doubt that the powerful experience of watching “Joan of Arc” was only enhanced by one of the finer performances of this season.
Franz is already proving himself a fine choice to lead the Boise Philharmonic into the future. His openness to new avenues for the performance group, from his statement that more collaborations with the Boise Master Chorale are of interest to his creativity in choosing a multimedia presentation harking back to the silent film era all bode well for the future of one of Boise’s finest cultural icons.
BRIAN MARSHALL
Arbiter Journalist