Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale)

Under the baton of conductor Mark Scatterday, the Eastman Wind Ensemble celebrates its 60th anniversary with its first recording for Avie, a superb reading of Stravinsky's Octet, while the Eastman Virtuosi, with narrator Jan Opalach, deliver a devilish rendition of L'Histoire du Soldat.

Harking back to a golden era in recording, when the ensembles of the Eastman School of Music under the baton of the legendary Frederick Fennell made dozens of pioneering recordings for Mercury Living Presence, the Eastman Wind Ensemble celebrates its 60th anniversary with its first recording for AVIE Records featuring two seminal works by Stravinsky. The composer's music figured early on in the EWE's history - his Symphonies for Wind Instruments was performed in 1951 on a programme conducted by Frederick Fennell that led to the establishment of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. And in 1966, at the age of 83, Stravinsky made his one and only visit to the Eastman School of Music, overseeing performances of several of his works.

Under Mark Scatterday, who continues in the prestigious lineage as only the fourth conductor in the EWE's history, the superior student ensemble performs Stravinsky's Octet, while Eastman Virtuosi, made up of the Eastman School's renowned faculty members, turn in a devilishly fine rendition of A Soldier's Tale. Jan Opalach delivers an exceptionally nuanced narration as well as portraying the folk tale's two protagonists, Joseph the solider and the Devil.

Recordings: Symphony Hall, Boston, USA, May 1972 (The Soldier’s Tale: music), December 1974 (Octet, Pastorale, Ragtime, Septet, Concertino), April 1978 (Berg: Adagio, Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony); Polydor Studios, London, UK, July 1975 (The Soldier’s Tale: speech)

Stravinsky’s tongue-in-cheek morality masterpiece, The Soldier’s Tale, is one of his cleverest and most enduring works, here receiving its first outing on CD, following several requests. It boasts a stellar cast, not only of musicians, drawn from the Boston Symphony and soloists in their own right, but also of the narrators/actors – Sir John Gielgud, Tom Courtenay and Ron Moody, with English texts by Michael Flanders & Kitty Black.

The couplings include the BSCP’s complete LP of chamber music by Stravinsky (the Concertino and Septet being released on CD for the first time), and also works by Schoenberg and Berg, previously unissued internationally on CD.

French and German text: new performing edition by the speaker.

recorded December 4 – 7, 2009 at Studio P4, Berlin, by Martin Litauer

When Igor Stravinsky read ‘The Soldier’s Tale’ in 1916 he was inspired to transform the fairy tale into a landmark of modern musical theatre, together with the librettist Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. The effects of war could also be felt in Switzerland, where Stravinsky was living in exile, and all the theatres were closed. The piece was therefore created with purely practical considerations in mind – a mobile stage, a minimal 7-piece orchestra and a plot in which the scenes followed each other like a series of illustrations. The story is taken from a Russian folk tale, but there are parallels in other cultures, such as the puppet show version of Doctor Faustus. A soldier on the way back to his home village enters into a pact with the devil. He sells his violin for a book of magic, which will enable him to become rich. Although this comes to pass, the soldier’s wealth does not make him happy, because someone who has sold himself to the devil is not capable of love or devotion to another. This version has been developed and narrated by Dominique Horwitz from the German adaptation by Hans Reinhart.