Available online
A rebellious home-schooled child goes on a nightmare cartoon journey of self-discovery in this ingeniously designed video fantasy take on Ravel’s opera
L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, the fantaisie-lyrique in two parts that Ravel composed in the 1920s to a libretto by Colette, is an intricate, fragile piece of theatre, and an ambitious choice for the debut production from Virtual Opera. But directed by Rachael Hewer with designs by Leanne Vandenbussche, and with the London Philharmonic conducted by Lee Reynolds in his own reworking of the luminous score for just 27 players, it’s one of the most successful online operas I’ve come across over the last nine months.