A lyric drama in a prologue and three acts by Temistocle Solera
Music by Verdi
Chorus and Orchestra of Radio Italiana, Rome
(Chorus-Master, Roberto Benaglio )
Conductor, Alfredo Simonetto
(Recording made available by courtesy of Radio Italiana, Rome)
Scene: France,, between. 1429 and 1431 Prologue
Sc. 1: A large courtyard in the castle of Domremy
Sc. 2: A shrine in the forest near
Domremy
Act 1
Sc. 1: A field of battle near Rheims Sc. 2: The garden of the palace at
Rheims
This opera, which has for its subject the life and death of the Maid of Orleans, is one of Verdi's earliest: it was written in 1845, when he was thirty-two, and produced that year at La Scala, Milan. The libretto, by Solera, takes certain liberties with historical fact, representing Joan as in love with the Dauphin, and shirking the -final conflagration by letting her die of wounds sustained in battle. The opera was a success at its first performance, but it has since disappeared from the repertoire. D. C.