A História do Soldado by Stavinsky/Ramuz
Event
The play “A História do Soldado” (The Soldier’s Tale) results from the collaboration of the composer Igor Stravinsky with the Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz during the period of the First World War, in 1918. The tale is told by three actors, a group of dancers and a band of seven musicians. Musically, “A História do Soldado” occupies an important place in Stravinsky's output, and in the history of 20th century music in general.
A soldier returning to his hometown on a fortnight's leave, stops to rest and plays his fiddle. He is interrupted by the Devil, disguised as an old man, who convinces him to give him the fiddle in exchange for a magic book that predicts the future. The Devil invites the soldier to go home with him for three days to teach him how to play. When the soldier finally arrives in his village, he finds his girlfriend married to another and everyone who sees him, even his mother, thinks he is a ghost. He realises he has been tricked – “it wasn't three days, it was three years” – and he becomes desperate. Not even the vast fortune he had amassed could cheer him up. When the Devil, this time disguised as an old woman, offers him the fiddle back, he cannot get any sound out of the instrument. Upset, he throws it away, tears up the book and decides to leave. Until he arrives in another country, where a King lives, who has a daughter trapped in a strange melancholy. The King had decreed that any man who could cure her could take her hand in marriage. The soldier decides to try his luck, and boldly heads for the palace. There he meets a competitor: the Devil, disguised as a virtuoso violinist. But he manages to beat him in a card game and purposely loses all his ill-gotten fortune. Then he finds he can play the violin again and, better yet, the sound of his music resurrects the Princess. The Devil, for the first time not disguised, tries to intervene, but he is forced to dance to the sound of the violin until he collapses exhausted. The Soldier and the Princess are happily united, but the Devil vows revenge.
A soldier returning to his hometown on a fortnight's leave, stops to rest and plays his fiddle. He is interrupted by the Devil, disguised as an old man, who convinces him to give him the fiddle in exchange for a magic book that predicts the future. The Devil invites the soldier to go home with him for three days to teach him how to play. When the soldier finally arrives in his village, he finds his girlfriend married to another and everyone who sees him, even his mother, thinks he is a ghost. He realises he has been tricked – “it wasn't three days, it was three years” – and he becomes desperate. Not even the vast fortune he had amassed could cheer him up. When the Devil, this time disguised as an old woman, offers him the fiddle back, he cannot get any sound out of the instrument. Upset, he throws it away, tears up the book and decides to leave. Until he arrives in another country, where a King lives, who has a daughter trapped in a strange melancholy. The King had decreed that any man who could cure her could take her hand in marriage. The soldier decides to try his luck, and boldly heads for the palace. There he meets a competitor: the Devil, disguised as a virtuoso violinist. But he manages to beat him in a card game and purposely loses all his ill-gotten fortune. Then he finds he can play the violin again and, better yet, the sound of his music resurrects the Princess. The Devil, for the first time not disguised, tries to intervene, but he is forced to dance to the sound of the violin until he collapses exhausted. The Soldier and the Princess are happily united, but the Devil vows revenge.
