Silk theatre programme produced for a performance of Raymond Rôze's Joan of Arc, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 13 December 1913, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary.

Peach silk programme edged with a cream silk fringe and printed in turquoise blue ink with the name of the theatres, the programme including the names of all the performers and their roles, and the names of the production staff. The programme is headed with an image printed in gold of the royal coat of arms and a thin gold line framing the text.

Acquired with the support of the Friends of the V&A

This satin programme was produced for a performance of Raymond Rôze's opera Joan of Arc, part of the Raymond Rôze English Opera Season 1913, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 13 December 1913. The opera had been produced in a concert version in November and reviewed in The Musical Times, 1 December 1913.

Joan of Arc was played by Lillian Granfelt, Jacques her father by Norman Williams, Durand Lazard her uncle by Furness Williams, Charles VII by Henry Rabke, Gerald Machet the Confessor to Charles VII by Manitto Klitgaard, Regnault de Chartres Archbishop of Rheims and the Chancellor by Cormac O'Shane, Estienne de Vignolles by Edward Ramsay, the Earl of Dunois, or the Bastard of Rheims by Lissant-Beardmore, Phillip, Duke of Burgundy by Harry Reynolds, Isabeau de Baviere the Queen Mother by Dora Gibson, an English Soldier by Julian Kimbell, Raymond by Violet Hume, De La Tremouille the Prime Minister by Edward Delfosse, the Jester by Allan Glen, the Ghost by Henry Burnand and the Voices by Maisie Scott, Ethel Duthoit, Florence Ludwig and Millicent Cane. The Premiere Danseuse was the Danish dancer Madame Karina, the Premier Danseur Roberty assisted by Major Neville and Gwen Gauntlett, and Edouard Espinosa was the Maître de Ballet. The opera was produced and conducted by the composer, and the soloist of the National Anthem sung by the whole company at the end of the evening was May Storia. The costumes were designed by Percy Anderson, the scenery was by F.L. Lyndhurst and the Master of Ceremonial Ecclesiology and Heraldry was G. Ambrose Lee, York Herald of Arms.

This satin programme was produced for a performance of Raymond Rôze's three act opera Joan of Arc, an evening in the Raymond Rôze English Opera Season 1913 in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 13 December 1913. The opera was produced in a concert version earlier that month and reviewed in The Musical Times, 1 December 1913.

The composer Raymond Rôze (1875-1920) was Musical Director of the Royal Opera House and his three-act opera Joan of Arc was premiered there on 1 November 1913. The son of the French soprano Marie Rôze, he attempted to establish English as a significant language for opera, at a time when few were written in English. He had studied in Brussels with Arthur de Greef before working in England at the Lyceum Theatre where he was Musical Director. He also established a singing school in London in 1899 and was Musical Director for various theatre companies. His output consisted mainly of incidental music for plays including a number at His Majesty's Theatre under Sir Herbert Tree, including Trilby in 1895. His music was twice performed in London's Promenade concerts in 1901 and 1911, and he was the founding conductor of the British Symphony Orchestra, formed in 1919 from demobilised soldiers returning to London after World War I.

A review in The Times was very critical of the opera’s disjointed nature and warned that ‘a drama with the characters singing and an orchestra to accompany them is not necessarily an opera.’ Joan of Arc received a further performance in Paris at a fundraising event for the Red Cross in 1917 but was ultimately unsuccessful.

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