Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Performer: Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Dominique Horwitz, Lorenzo Coppola, Javier Zafra, Reinhold Friedrich, Jörgen van Rijen, Wies de Boevé, Raymond Curfs
Orchestra:
Conductor:
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Catalogue: HMM992671
Release: 2021
Size: 1.13 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Elegy, for solo violin
Duo concertant
02. I. Cantilène
03. II. Églogue I
04. III. Églogue II
05. IV. Gigue
06. V. Dithyrambe
The Soldier’s Tale, Part I Scene I
07. Marching Song
08. Phew… This isn’t a bad sort of spot
09. Music to Scene 1. Airs by a stream
10. The Devil appears
The Soldier’s Tale, Part I Scene II
11. Marching Song (reprise)
12. Hurray! Here we are!
13. Music to Scene 2: Pastorale
14. Ah, you dirty cheat! It’s you!
The Soldier’s Tale, Part I Scene III
15. Music to Scene 3. Airs by a stream (reprise)
16. Good to touch, good to feel
The Soldier’s Tale, Part II Scene I
17. Marching Song (reprise)
18. Now he comes to another land
19. Royal March
The Soldier’s Tale, Part II Scene II
20. It went off just as we thought it would
21. Little Concert
The Soldier’s Tale, Part II Scene III
22. Three Dances. 1. Tango
23. Three Dances. 2. Waltz
24. Three Dances. 3. Ragtime
25. Dance of the Devil
26. Little Chorale
27. Devil’s Song
The Soldier’s Tale, Part II Scene IV
28. Great Chorale
29. Suppose, suppose we went there!
30. Devil’s Triumphal March
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.