Die Geschichte vom Soldaten | Salzburger Marionettentheater | Isabelle Faust & Friends

Igor Stravinsky’s*The Soldier’s Tale*: neither opera nor theater, but a piece “to be read, performed, and danced.” Premiered in 1918 in Lausanne, at the end of World War I,*The Soldier’s Tale*was composed in exile on Lake Geneva, where Stravinsky met the writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz and the painter René Auberjonois. “I stood,” Stravinsky said, “in the midst of war and in a foreign land, facing nothingness.” Inspired by a Russian folk tale, the three artists tell the story of a deserter, the devil, and a princess—characters without individual psychology, shaped in the tradition of puppet and fairground theaters.

On the occasion of the 2025 Salzburg Festival,Matthias Bundschuh staged a celebrated new production, which is now coming to Munich’s Prinzregententheater as part of a European tour formusica viva. Georg Baselitzcreated the marionettes and the set design: sculpturally simplified bodies made of tubes, in which only the skeleton and movement matter, revealing what is essential.Dominique Horwitznarrates the story of the soldier who sells his soul to the devil. Isabelle Faust has assembled an all-star ensemble of musicians who serve as the perfect partners for the puppeteers of theSalzburg Marionette Theater. Founded in 1913 by Anton Aicher and designated a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site since 2016, the Salzburg Marionette Theater once again demonstrates with this production how technical precision, artistic vision, and musical brilliance merge to create a unique and captivating experience.

Program:
Igor Stravinsky [1882–1971]
The Soldier’s Tale [1918]
Libretto by Charles F. Ramuz, German translation by Hans Reinhart
Staged performance

Cast:
Georg Baselitz(puppets, set design)
Matthias Bundschuh, Director
Dominique Horwitz, Narrator

Musicians:
Isabelle Faust, violin
Pascal Moraguès, clarinet
Giorgio Mandolesi, bassoon
Reinhold Friedrich, cornet
Ian Bousfield, trombone
Wies de Boevé, double bass
Raymond Curfs, Percussion

Puppeteers:
Edouard Funck, Ursula Winzer(The Soldier)
Philippe Brunner, Eva Wiener(The Devil)
Vladimir Fediakov, Maximilian Kiener-Laubenbacher(The Princess)
Veronika Grimme(The King / The Veteran)
Marion Mayer (The Town Crier / The Trumpeter)
Philipp Schmidt(The Drummer)
Ensemble of the Salzburg Marionette Theater(Villagers)
 

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