Maurice Ravel

(1895 - 1963)

L’Enfant et les sortiléges

(The Child and the Sorceries)

(1925)


This is Ravel’s second and last opera.

A naughty child, dawdling over his homework, is reproved by his mother.  Left alone, he flies into a tantrum and assaults everything in his room, including the family cat.  Then, one after another, all the things he has maltreated come to life, tormenting him until he whimpers for his “mama”.  

Here we have one of the supreme examples of Ravel’s unerring orchestral technique: the cat scene.  Ravel was a lifelong lover of cats, and this hilarious interlude is one of his most endearing musical creations.

Is this the same composer of Daphnis???