Igor Stravinksy’s The Soldier is an era-defining composition in the history of musical theatre. In this thrilling, Faustian story a soldier who sold his soul to the devil fights a desperate battle with evil to win back his freedom. Based on Russian stories, Stravinsky wrote the piece for a small traveling company and a few instruments in French, with the assistance of Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. During the Pannon Philharmonic performance we’ll hear János Lackfi’s Hungarian translation narrated by Pál Mácsai. We won’t be left without innovations in this recital either, as the Péter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation mentored by Aaron Holloway-Nahum debuts its bass clarinet recital titled Megsemmisülés (Annihilation), with the assistance of Romanian contemporary music specialist Horia Dumitrache. The evening will begin with a Haydn symphony: the oft-heard trumpet fanfare heard multiple times throughout the piece was commemorated by a reviewer at the world premiere as “the satanic scream of the hell of war,” thus earning it the nickname ‘The Soldier.’