The Child and the Spells
Maurice Ravel
Touring opera. New production by the Opéra Studio of the OnR.
Co-produced with the Comédie de Colmar
A lyric fantasy in two parts.
Libretto by Colette.
Premiered on 21 March 1925 at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
Version for four-hand piano, flute and cello, by Didier Puntos with the kind permission of Editions Durand.
Infos
Bar-le-Duc
ACB Scène Nationale
Mutzig
Le Dôme
Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines
Théâtre
Colmar
Comédie de Colmar
Mulhouse
Centre Socio Culturel PAX
Strasbourg
Théâtre de Hautepierre
Without interval
Recommended for ages 7 and over.
With the support of Fidelio.
Cast
Transcription, musical arrangement and piano Didier Puntos Stage Design Émilie Capliez Vocal conductors and piano Levi Gerke, Rosa Ji-Hyun Kim Set Design Alban Ho Van Costumes Alban Ho Van, Marjolaine Mansot Lighting Bruno Marsol Musiciens de la HEAR : Flûtes Migle Astrauskaite, Noa Berkovitch Musicien de la HEAR : Violoncelle Octave Diaz
Artists
The Child Brenda Poupard The Princess/Bat Lauranne Oliva The Fire/Shepherd Girl/Nightingale/Owl Floriane Derthe The Mother/China cup/Dragonfly Liying Yang The Shepherdess/Cat/Squirrel/Shepherd Elsa Roux Chamoux The Teapot/Arithmetic (Little Old Man)/Tree frog/Shepherd Damian Arnold The Clock/Cat Damien Gastl The Armchair/Tree Oleg Volkov
Presentation
"I hate everyone! I am naughty!" After refusing to do his homework, a child is sent to the attic hungry until bedtime. During a tantrum, he sends the teapot flying, extinguishes the fire, rips his schoolbooks to shreds, slashes paintings, breaks the clock, and terrorizes a squirrel. Intoxicated by his dominion over the world he has destroyed, he attempts to fall asleep in an armchair, which tips him out so it can dance. Before the flabbergasted child, his inanimate objects come to life: the Teapot and China cup have a boxing match, the Fire grumbles and threatens the naughty boy, while the Princess awakes from her fairy tale. The animals in the garden — cats, tree frogs, dragonflies, bats, and squirrels — take turns in tormenting the child, intent on teaching him a lesson in compassion. Maurice Ravel gave each magic spell dreamed up by Collette a color and a musical style. Jazz, a waltz, a Spanish dance, a neoclassical sarabande, and soaring lyrics unfurl one after the other in a kaleidoscopic opera that will tour the Grand Est region in this intimate production featuring the singers of the Opéra Studio and four musicians.
