Performance “merges two fabulous works of art”

By Peter Alexander

Renée Jeanne Falconetti as Joan in The Passion of Joan of Arc. Photo courtesy of Alliance Artist Management.

Cynthia Katsarelis has conducted many concerts, but her next program with the Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra is unique and exciting in many ways.

“It’s fab,” she says. “It’s just fab!”

She is referring to Voices of Light by Richard Einhorn, which Pro Musica Colorado will perform with a screening of the 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. An oratorio for small orchestra, chorus and soloists, Voices of Light was composed in 1994 specifically to accompany Dreyer’s film, which is considered one of the greatest silent films ever made.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, in St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, and Saturday, March 14, in First United Methodist Church, Boulder. Soloists appearing with Pro Musica and the St. John’s Cathedral Choir will be soprano Ashley Hoffman, alto Marjorie Bunday, tenor Steven Soph and bass David Farwig.

“The Passion of Joan of Arc is a masterpiece,” Katsarelis says. “The acting by Renée Jeanne Falconetti [as Joan] is just amazing.”

Read more at Boulder Weekly.