The Soldier's Tale

Don't miss this exciting program!
"A feast for ears and eyes" (The Silicon Valley Voice)
L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) features a full cast of narrator, actors, dancer and musicians in this major work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and his literary collaborator Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz. In the story, based on a Russian folk tale, a soldier exchanges her violin (and soul) with the Devil for a book that predicts the future making her immensely wealthy but at great cost to her happiness. In the hopes of making a new life she pursues a chance at winning the hand of a princess. The music has the unmistakable rhythmic and tuneful dazzle of Stravinsky featuring a lively concoction of jazzy figures, dance forms and marches for a small group of players. Besides narrator, and actors playing soldier, princess and the devil, the music will be performed by a seven-piece ensemble of musicians conducted by Cal Arte's artistic director Tamami Honma.
As an appetizer to the performance, Ms. Honma will be playing the piano with Julian Brown in Stravinsky's neoclassical Suite Italienne for violin and piano, a work based on the ballet Pulcinella which in turn was based on the charming melodies of various 18th century Italian composers including Giovanni Pergolesi and Domenico Gallo.