Online: The Hallé - Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale

A highlight of the season, Sir Mark conducts a staged performance of Stravinsky’s 1918 masterpiece. Conceived to ‘be read, played, and danced’ by three actors, a dancer and seven instrumentalists, Stravinsky here broke new ground establishing music-theatre as a genre. The small group of performers was necessitated by the 1918 Spanish flu and ultimately the work was prevented from touring by the pandemic. Its vivid music, rhythmic and lyrical by turns, incorporates jazz and popular dances, like tango and ragtime. The story explores the archetypal Faustian myth: a soldier, on his way home from the battlefields, is persuaded to sell his precious violin to an old man in exchange for a book in which he’ll find the secret of making untold wealth. Little does the soldier know that the buyer is the Devil and that he has sold his soul…

For more information on the event, how to book, and how to view the event, visit here