Et Les Sortileges Ravel Opera Glyndebourne

A young boy, consumed by petulant rage, destroys the objects in his room in a fit of destructive fury. As night falls and his anger reaches its crescendo, the inanimate world around him awakens in magical retribution. Furniture, clocks, teapots, and numbers spring to life, their voices joining in a phantasmagoric chorus of complaint and accusation. A Chinese cup and teapot enact a melancholic love duet; a mechanical clock strikes with mechanical precision; arithmetic problems dance in bewildering patterns. The boy encounters a cat and a squirrel, who speak in their own peculiar tongues, and gradually the supernatural realm transforms from vengeful to redemptive. Through this surreal nocturnal journey, the child discovers remorse and compassion, learning that destruction begets only emptiness. As dawn approaches and the magical spell dissolves, the boy emerges transformed, ready to embrace a gentler world.