Written in exile in Switzerland, The Soldier’s Tale is Stravinsky’s musical farewell to Russia. To be ‘read, played and danced,’ a kaleidoscope of chorales, military marches and popular Western dance music (like ragtime), tells the story of the young soldier who sells his soul to the devil. The ensemble’s production of the…

In a program of four trios we hear Beethoven’s greatest Piano Trio, the Archduke, written at the end of his ‘heroic’ period. It has the amplitude, variety and formal elaboration of works such as the Seventh Symphony; it is crowned by a slow movement that is one Beethoven’s most extraordinary…