Ravel, M: Enfant Et Les Sortileges (L') [Opera] / Sheherazade

Featuring

Alastair Willis
Julie Boulianne
Geneviève Couillard Després
Kevin Short
Julie Cox
Ian Greenlaw

Philippe Castagner
Kirsten Gunlogson
Cassandre Prévost
Agathe Martel
Nashville Symphony
Nashville Symphony Chorus
Chicago Symphony Chorus
Chattanooga Boys Choir
Maurice Ravel

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Compositional Technique

The score of "L'Enfant et les sortilèges" features an extensive and colorful list of percussion instruments, including a cheese-grater played with a triangle beater, a wind-machine (éoliphone), and a luthéal.

Composition History

Ravel's repeated failure to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, even as an established composer, caused a scandal that led to changes at the Conservatoire.

Composer Biography

Maurice Ravel inherited a delight in precision and mechanical toys from his Swiss engineer father, and familiarity with Spanish culture from his Basque mother.

Compositional Technique

The luthéal, an instrument used in "L'Enfant et les sortilèges," is a device attached to the piano that mimics the sound of a Hungarian cimbalom.

Composition History

The libretto for Ravel's opera "L'Enfant et les sortilèges" was written by Colette, a French novelist known for her "Claudine" novels.

Composition History

Although Colette wrote the libretto for "L'Enfant et les sortilèges" quickly, Ravel took much longer to complete the score, which premiered in 1925 in Monte Carlo.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In "L'Enfant et les sortilèges," Ravel captures the world of a rebellious child who causes mischief until the animate and inanimate creatures he provoked turn against him.