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Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale (English Version)

Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (piano)

Awards:

It’s rounded, intensely vocal, intimate, incredibly sophisticated – not the usual, but very welcome, as if the whole thing were an ethereal fairytale...It’s your choice which language version...

Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale (English Version)

Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (piano)

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This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now Hi-RES 96 kHz, 24 bit

Awards:

It’s rounded, intensely vocal, intimate, incredibly sophisticated – not the usual, but very welcome, as if the whole thing were an ethereal fairytale...It’s your choice which language version...

About

Deeply scarred by the First World War and by the upheavals of the October Revolution in his homeland, Stravinsky found, with the help of the Swiss author Ramuz, a subject that resonated perfectly with his era.

In this music theatre piece inspired by an old Russian folktale, The Deserter and the Devil, the composer of The Rite of Spring explored new paths in the last months of the First World War, which would soon lead him to a very personal form of neo-classicism.

With this English version, in which Dominique Horwitz plays all the spoken roles in masterly fashion, the musicians assembled by Isabelle Faust have taken up the challenge of performing on instruments contemporary with the premiere.

As a result, the work reveals its true personality and its immensely original colours, keen and biting.

It is coupled here with two unjustly neglected gems by its composer, to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of his death.

Contents and tracklist

I. Cantilène
Track length2:56
II. Églogue I
Track length2:22
III. Églogue II
Track length3:22
IV. Gigue
Track length4:27
V. Dithyrambe
Track length3:23
Marching Song
Track length1:45
Phew… This isn't a bad sort of spot
Track length1:10
Music to Scene 1. Airs by a stream
Track length2:33
The Devil appears
Track length4:59
Marching Song (reprise)
Track length1:36
Hurray! Here we are!
Track length2:43
Music to Scene 2: Pastorale
Track length2:57
Ah, you dirty cheat! It's you!
Track length3:19
Music to Scene 3. Airs by a stream (reprise)
Track length0:45
Good to touch, good to feel
Track length3:06
Marching Song (reprise)
Track length1:40
Now he comes to another land
Track length2:21
Royal March
Track length3:08
It went off just as we thought it would
Track length3:00
Little Concert
Track length2:54
Three Dances. 1. Tango
Track length2:26
Three Dances. 2. Waltz
Track length2:08
Three Dances. 3. Ragtime
Track length2:26
Dance of the Devil
Track length1:15
Little Chorale
Track length0:41
Devil's Song
Track length0:34
Great Chorale
Track length3:51
Suppose, suppose we went there!
Track length1:31
Devil's Triumphal March
Track length2:14

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

  • BBC Music Magazine
    December 2021
    Recording of the Month
  • Gramophone Magazine
    November 2021
    Editor's Choice
  • Presto Recording of the Week
    27th August 2021
  • Gramophone Awards
    2022
    Finalist - Chamber

December 2021

It’s rounded, intensely vocal, intimate, incredibly sophisticated – not the usual, but very welcome, as if the whole thing were an ethereal fairytale...It’s your choice which language version you invest in, but don’t miss the musical wonders.

November 2021

Faust and her colleagues do indeed evoke the mise en scène of performers pulling up in a dusty square late one afternoon and performing from the back of an old truck.

27th August 2021

This is as lively and characterful a performance as you’re ever likely to hear – as well as the most historically authentic that I’m aware of Each member of the septet plays on an instrument dating from the period of the work’s composition (with the exception of Faust’s Stradivarius and Wies de Boevé’s double bass). This is particularly noticeable in the wind and percussion, where the soundworld is distinctively different from what modern instruments would create.

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