L'Histoire du Soldat

Ragtime, paso doble, Bach-like chorales, klezmer music... This diversity of influences serves a Faustian-inspired plot: a soldier sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a book capable of predicting the future. A universal tale, inspired by the Russian author Afanasyev, which ends in hell for the soldier. Julien Masmondet and Les Apaches d’aujourd’hui have decided to pay tribute to their predecessors by bringing this piece back to life alongside Didier Sandre from the Comédie-Française, in a concert version for a single narrator who embodies the narrator, the soldier, and the devil, accompanied by seven soloists. Didier Sandre's extensive knowledge of the work allows him to tighten the drama, giving it profound unity and revealing all the musicality of the text. To introduce The Soldier's Tale, an original creation for percussion and electronics commissioned from Othman Louati immediately plunges the listener into the world of rhythm which, in the form of a march, becomes like a second heartbeat punctuating all the scenes and accompanying us step by step until the last measure of the work.

Artist: Les Apaches! (septet)

Julien Masmondet, Musical Direction

Didier Sandre, from the Comédie-Française, Narrator

Eva Zavaro, Violin, Lauriane Maudry, Clarinet, Jean Détraz, Bassoon, Arthur Escriva, Cornet, Lucas Ounissi, Trombone, Vincent Alves de Palma d'Elia, Double Bass, Emmanuel Jacquet, Percussion

Duration: 1h10, without interval