Soviet Sounds

A tony triumvirate of talent came together as one for the Santa Barbara Symphony’s back-to-back Igor Stravinsky fest at the Granada, with the performers including the State Street Ballet and members of the Ensemble Theatre.

Montecito Emmy-winning actor Christopher Lloyd narrated the Faustian story of The Soldier’s Tale with Ensemble regular Jamie Torcellini as the devil and Nick Ballard as the soldier, with the ballet company’s members Leila Drake, James Folsom, and Cecily MacDougall as admirable supports with William Soleau‘s choreography, Jonathan Fox‘s stage direction and maestro Nir Kabaretti‘s conducting of the talented septet.

The delightfully entertaining show wrapped with the pagan ballet, The Rite of Spring, one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century, which the Russian composer wrote in 1911 after finishing The Firebird.