Carl Theodor Dreyer never intended his 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc to have a musical soundtrack, but composer Richard Einhorn just couldn't resist. In 1994, Einhorn created a choral and orchestral oratorio to accompany the gut-wrenching depiction of the French saint's final days of imprisonment, torture, and eventual death at English hands. This weekend, the 150-voice Master Chorale of Tampa Bay performs Voices of Light, Einhorn's score, live and set to a screening of Dreyer's silent Passion. In her first and only film role, Renée Falconetti plays Joan and gives what critic Pauline Kael once wrote "may be the finest performance ever recorded on film," which is showcased by Dreyer's then-unorthodox close-up camerawork. Get ready for goose bumps. Sun., May 6, 4 p.m., Carol Morsani Hall-Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, downtown Tampa, $17.50-$32.50 (half-price student rush tickets available same day), 813-974-7726, masterchorale.com.
This article appears in May 2-8, 2007.