Verdi’s Joan of Arc (1845) dates from the middle of the first decade of his long career, and its comparative rarity reflects its relatively low critical standing among the composer’s stage works.
The unhistorical elements of its plot are to some extent to blame: neither its depiction of a romantic involvement between Joan and the French dauphin, nor her death as a result of a last-minute dash from prison to battlefield carry much conviction for modern audiences.
Even the work’s best feature – Verdi’s score – is uneven, with strong and imaginative passages alternating with others that even by this early stage in his career he had easily surpassed.
For these reasons, it seems a somewhat dubious opening offering for this year’s Buxton festival, and indeed, it would need far more consistent singing and a much stronger staging to make this revival unmissable.
In the event, director Elijah Moshinsky fails to persuade you of its dramatic merits. Russell Craig’s semi-abstract set is peopled by characters wearing costumes of different periods, as if this were a universal tale rather than a time-specific one. Verdi and his librettist included choruses of angels and demons, though their visualisation here comes close to pantomime.
The best individual performance is provided by high-powered baritone Devid Cecconi as Joan’s father, Giacomo, who is so appalled at the thought that his daughter is under the sway of evil spirits that he hands her over to the English.
Ben Johnson supplies appealing lyricism as the Dauphin (and later king), Carlo, while Kate Ladner has a decent shot at Joan, even if this taxing assignment finds out her vocal weaknesses.
Musically, the evening’s palm goes to conductor Stuart Stratford, who draws dynamic playing from the Northern Chamber Orchestra without being able to convince you that the opera is a lost masterpiece.
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