Director: SKUTR
Conductor: Mario de Rose
The South Bohemian Theatre (České Budějovice)
The one-act opera-ballet The Child and the Spells(L'Enfant et les sortilèges) was written by the French composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) based on a libretto by the French writer Colette. The text inspired Ravel to write rhythmical, dance music with distinctive impressionist instrumentation, including many special onomatopoeic effects. The opera is the fairy-tale story of a disobedient, lazy boy, who through his malevolence and mischief torments animals and destroys the things around him. However, when the boy tires of his rampaging and settles into his armchair, the things come alive and rise up against the naughty child. The clocks reprimand him and the teapot and Chinese tea bowl scold him, the fire from the stove threatens to burn the boy, the torn school jotter torments him with multiplication tables, and the shepherds and shepherdesses come out from the ripped wallpaper with their flocks and sing a sad song about the evil boy. From the garden come the complaints from the trees and the animals. Naturally, the feelings of fear are educational for the child and love and goodness find a place in his heart.
