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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 26, 2015 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] ALAN GILBERT AND THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC 2014–15 SEASON FINALE HONEGGER’S JOAN OF ARC AT THE STAKE U.S. PREMIERE of STAGING by Director CÔME DE BELLESCIZE Featuring Academy Award–Winning Actress MARION COTILLARD, COMÉDIE-FRANÇAISE Members ÉRIC GÉNOVÈSE and CHRISTIAN GONON, Sopranos ERIN MORLEY and SIMONE OSBORNE, Mezzo-Soprano FAITH SHERMAN, Tenor THOMAS BLONDELLE, Bass STEVEN HUMES, and New York Choral Artists and Brooklyn Youth Chorus June 10–13, 2015 FREE INSIGHTS AT THE ATRIUM EVENT “Joan of Arc at the Stake: Drama in Music” June 1, 2015 The New York Philharmonic will present the U.S. Premiere of director Côme de Bellescize’s staging of Honegger’s dramatic oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake in season-finale performances conducted by Alan Gilbert and starring Academy Award–winning actress Marion Cotillard as Joan of Arc. The production — which follows Joan of Arc’s final moments before being burned at the stake and places the Orchestra in the middle of a constructed platform on which the action occurs — continues the Philharmonic’s recent emphasis on staging operatic and theatrical works. The concerts will be presented in French with English surtitles and without intermission on Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, June 13 at 8:00 p.m. In addition to Marion Cotillard, the cast will also include Comédie-Française members Éric Génovèse as Brother Dominique and Christian Gonon as the Narrator; soprano Erin Morley as the Virgin; soprano Simone Osborne as Marguerite; mezzo-soprano Faith Sherman as Catherine; tenor Thomas Blondelle and bass Steven Humes in multiple roles; the New York Choral Artists, director Joseph Flummerfelt; and Brooklyn Youth Chorus, director Dianne Berkun-Menaker. Pierre Vallet is the chorus master. “Marion Cotillard is one of my heroes and a brilliant actress,” Alan Gilbert said. “Joan of Arc at the Stake is probably Honegger’s greatest work: it’s a dramatic and piercing telling (more) Alan Gilbert / Joan of Arc at the Stake / 2 of this most serious of stories. It’s such a pleasure to hear these scores played by the New York Philharmonic. There’s a lot to learn by having to tell a story through music, with the drama primary and forward rather than underpinning.” “Honegger wrote this oratorio just before the Second World War, when it could have been a nationalistic opera: ‘We will resist! We will fight!’” Côme de Bellescize said. “But it’s really the opposite: it is about going out of the darkness and trying to find the light with the power of love. I am so happy to have the great chance to work with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert. The whole world meets together in New York, and I think there is something universal to say with this production. It’s a great pleasure and honor to have the opportunity to work with Marion, especially for a play that has such meaning for her.” “It is a great joy for me to be part of this tremendous adventure of Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher staged by the inspired Côme de Bellescize,” Marion Cotillard said. “Sharing this experience with the New York Philharmonic and the great actors Éric Génovèse and Christian Gonon will be an amazing journey. I feel so lucky and I am looking forward to sharing this work, which is, at this point, one of my greatest experiences as an actress.” Honegger’s oratorio follows Joan of Arc’s final moments, as she looks back on her life through a series of flashbacks. In Côme de Bellescize’s staging, the costumes are colorful and many of the characters appear in the guise of circus animals, reflecting Joan looking back on her life from a child’s perspective. In his production notes, Mr. Bellescize writes: “The mockery of politics, which appears throughout the oratorio, corresponds to that of a child’s point of view, for whom a military conflict is a card game, and the political trial, a circus with all its clowns and beast. It is this childhood spirit that enables the story to always waver between naïve coolness and ludicrous humor, despite its dramatic tone. ... Joan is in the heart of the orchestra, and when the stake ignites, it is the music that burns Joan’s body and transforms her into a figure of divine love.” Côme de Bellescize first created this production of Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake for Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto in 2012, featuring Mr. Génovèse, Mr. Gonon, Ms. Osborne, and Mr. Blondelle. Mr. Bellescize’s staging was revived in March 2015 at the newly opened Philharmonie de Paris, featuring Ms. Cotillard, Mr. Génovèse, Mr. Gonon, Ms. Osborne, Ms. Sherman, Mr. Blondelle, and Mr. Humes. The project was initiated by festival director Seiji Ozawa and actress Isabel Karajan, who performed the title role in the 2012 production, as a tribute to her father, the late conductor Herbert von Karajan. The production features set design by Sigolène de Chassy, lighting design by Thomas Costerg, and costume design by Colombe Lauriot Prévost. Blanche D’Harcourt is the artistic advisor, Jane Piot is the assistant director, and musical preparation is by Dan Saunders. The Philharmonic performed the U.S. Premiere of Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake in 1948 at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Charles Munch. Subsequent performances took place in 1958, led by Leonard Bernstein; in 1967, led by Seiji Ozawa, as part of the Orchestra’s 125th Anniversary celebrations and the Lincoln Center Festival; and in 1994, conducted by then Music Director Kurt Masur. (more) Alan Gilbert / Joan of Arc at the Stake / 3 The New York Philharmonic’s free Insights at the Atrium series will present “Joan of Arc at the Stake: Drama in Music,” Monday, June 1, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., at which Alan Gilbert and cast members will reflect on Honegger’s dramatic oratorio in particular as well as about storytelling through music, in advance of the production. The event takes place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street) and is co-presented with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Related Events Philharmonic Free Fridays The New York Philharmonic is offering 100 free tickets for young people ages 13–26 to the concert Friday, June 12 as part of Philharmonic Free Fridays. Information is available at nyphil.org/freefridays. Philharmonic Free Fridays offers 100 free tickets to 13–26-year-olds to each of the 2014–15 season’s 18 Friday evening subscription concerts; it is part of Share the Music!, a new initiative to support expanded access to the New York Philharmonic. Insights at the Atrium — “Joan of Arc: Drama in Music” New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert, speaker Cast members tba Monday, June 1, 2015, 7:30 p.m. David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street) Music Director Alan Gilbert and members of the cast discuss the inner-workings of a composition that defies categorization, and the importance of storytelling through music. Insights at the Atrium events are free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first- come, first-served basis. Subscribers, Friends at the Affiliate level and above, and Patrons may secure guaranteed admission by emailing [email protected]. Space is limited. Artists Music Director Alan Gilbert began his New York Philharmonic tenure in September 2009, the first native New Yorker in the post. He and the Philharmonic have introduced the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in- Residence, and the Artist-in-Association; CONTACT!, the new-music series; and the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, an exploration of today’s music by a wide range of contemporary and modern composers inaugurated in spring 2014. As New York magazine wrote, “The Philharmonic and its music director Alan Gilbert have turned themselves into a force of permanent revolution.” In the 2014–15 season Alan Gilbert conducts the U.S. Premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Clarinet Concerto, a Philharmonic co-commission, alongside Mahler’s First Symphony; La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema; Verdi’s Requiem; a staging of Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake, featuring Oscar winner Marion Cotillard; World Premieres; a CONTACT! program; and Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. He concludes The Nielsen Project — the multi-year initiative to perform and record the Danish composer’s symphonies and concertos, the first release of which was named by The New York Times as among the Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012 — and presides over the EUROPE / SPRING 2015 tour. His Philharmonic- tenure highlights include acclaimed productions of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd starring Bryn Terfel and Emma (more) Alan Gilbert / Joan of Arc at the Stake / 4 Thompson, and Philharmonic 360 at Park Avenue Armory; World Premieres by Magnus Lindberg, John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, and others; Bach’s B-minor Mass and Ives’s Fourth Symphony; the score from 2001: A Space Odyssey alongside the film; Mahler’s Second Symphony, Resurrection, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11; and eight international tours. Conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra, Alan Gilbert regularly conducts leading orchestras around the world. His 2014–15 appearances include the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, and The Philadelphia Orchestra.