Pep Planas

On November 17, 2012, Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard joined the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra for a performance of Arthur Honegger’s oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake (Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher) at the L'Auditori de Barcelona in Spain, broadcast live on Medici.tv. By Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher (1938) is an imposing oratorio. The libretto is a highly original creation by French poet and playwright Paul Claudel, who dramatises the last moments of the martyr's life. Originally written for actress Ida Rubinstein, the oratorio is written as a flashback in which Joan recalls her life, just before she dies. Honegger creates visually evocative ambiances and fills the orchestra with new sounds (saxophones, ondes Martenot). The initial prologue to the piece was added in 1944 as a symbol of the resistance during the Nazi occupation of France: again, Joan goes beyond her own story.

"14 d'abril. Macià contra Companys "is a television drama, allegedly recorded in 1932, but with the methods, style and own means 2010. With this temporary license, the stars of one of the episodes of the Catalan capital twentieth century discussed the facts, in first person, while a nosy camera helps us to relive what happened in Barcelona between 14 and 17 April 1931, the three-day duration of the Catalan Republic. All with the aim of showing the greatness and the precariousness of a gesture, half improvised by Companys key sovereigntist corrected by Macià, and that led to a shouting match.

Víctor is in his last year of his Violin Studies and is about to perform his last recital. During his years as a student, he has put his family and friends aside to focus entirely on his true passion. Now that the first defining moment of his future professional career is approaching, he feels emotionally blocked, unable to play his piece well. Víctor will have to make amends with his close ones, those who have supported him and have been by his side, in order to feel at peace with himself. He will have to remember who he really is to find the right emotional balance that will allow him understand music and life in a much healthier and human way, and carry on with the concert.

Five years have passed and everything remains the same in the colony. Celia is about to turn 14 and it is time for her to start working in the factory, as all girls her age do, but Celia wants to continue her studies so she can leave the colony.