Cotillard movingly captures Jeanne's wildly contrasting moods while Xavier Gallas is consoling yet determined in supporting her...Most impressive of all, though, are the searing choral contributions that are convincing in their heartfelt gallic fervour, from an oppressed people, via baying crowd to angelic host.

Cotillard marvellously captures Jeanne's innocence, toughness and terrifying doubts; Gallais is compassionate, tender, and at times tellingly fierce...The impact is immeasurably heightened on DVD by our being able to see both the sorrowing beauty of Gallais's face and the extraordinary way Cotillard's eyes let us know exactly what is going on in Jeanne's mind and soul

The music is large-scaled, colourful, eclectic and theatrical, even encompassing satire. Two actors, Marion Cotillard and Xavier Gallais, as Joan and her spiritual guide, Frère Dominique, lead a powerful live performance.

The spoken roles are well enough done by Marion Cotillard and Xavier Gallais on this live recording from Barcelona in 2012, but it’s the choral singing, superbly vivid, that provides the real dramatic muscle.

This imaginative collaboration between Honegger and the poet Paul Claudel, conceived originally for the dancer/actor Ida Rubinstein, is performed here under Marc Soustrot with terrific presence, the work’s ethereal reflectiveness countered by passages of down-to-earth realism in a vivid theatrical experience.