News, Arts and Culture from WFIU Public Radio and WTIU Public Television
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Opera Insights – Pre-show talk on Ravel’s “L’enfant et les sortilèges”

Opera Insights – Pre-show talk on Ravel’s “L’enfant et les sortilèges”

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.

Artistic Staff

Conductor
Fawzi Haimor

Director
Omer Ben Seadia

Lighting and Projection Designer
Russell Long

Chorus Master
Walter Huff

Musical Arts Center North Lobby
$12-52
06:30 PM - 11:59 PM on Fri, 17 Oct 2025