Review: A soldier tells his tale at Evansville Civic Theatre

30 Jan Review: A soldier tells his tale at Evansville Civic Theatre

Saturday evening brought several artistic forces in Evansville together for a fine production of “The Soldier’s Tale,” by Igor Stravinsky. Yet another “re-imagined” program of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, this one-hour work featured seven instrumentalists of the EPO, four dancers from Ballet Indiana and two actors from the Evansville Civic Theatre — all under the baton of Roger Kalia. The performance venue moved from the Victory Theatre to the smaller, more intimate stage at Evansville Civic Theatre.

Completed in 1918, “The Soldier’s Tale” is a retelling — in drama, dance, and music — of a Russian folk tale. Saturday night’s speakers — the narrator and the soldier — played their parts with ironic aplomb, clearly proclaiming their lines and admonishing anyone against making a pact with the devil. The story was enlivened by the dancers, all four whirling to Stravinsky’s characteristic setting of tango, waltz, and ragtime music. Congratulations to Evansville Civic Theatre Artistic Director Kevin Roach and the Artistic Director of Ballet Indiana, Kerri Lambert.

The musical score is one of the most devilish in music literature to conduct with its irregular and changing meters, yet conductor Roger Kalia kept the ensemble (and the tale) going with apparent ease. The musicians — Alan Snow, violin; Tiffany Freeman, bass; Thomas Josenhans, clarinet; Eve Parsons (seated in what appeared to be a large darkened hearth), bassoon; Tim Zifer, trumpet and cornet; Lee Blakeman, trombone; and Ross Erickson, percussion — likewise have diabolically difficult music to perform, which they did with bravura. Interestingly, “The Soldier’s Tale” was written during another great pandemic, the “Spanish” flu, which Stravinsky contracted. Happily for the musical world, the composer survived, and, a century later, social distancing kept the performers apart from one another and the audience virtual.

This program took the place of a performance of Stravinsky’s evocative ballet Petrushka, which Kalia promises will come to the stage at the Victory when we have made it through Covid-time. In the meantime, however, kudos go to all those — not only the artists but also all the technical whizzes — who have made this and other performances possible in these fiendishly difficult times. 

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