L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells)

Music by Maurice Ravel

REDEMPTION FANTASTIQUE

This one-act fantasy explores the enchantment and imagination of childhood when a young boy misbehaves, and all around him comes to life—assuming human qualities—to intervene.

Librettist and French icon Colette—actress, journalist, and one of the most influential and provocative writers of the twentieth century—wrote this piece in eight days as a “fantasy ballet.” When approached about making it a musical work, the only composer she was excited about was Ravel.

Once Ravel had the text, it would take him eight years to complete, following his two years at the front in WWI and the death of his beloved mother. It premiered in 1925. Colette’s wartime text met Ravel’s postwar music to create an imaginative work with a naughty child and magic at its heart.