Petrushka / L’Enfant et les Sortilèges at Komische Oper Berlin

In Stravinsky's ballet burlesque, three puppets are brought to life by their sadistic puppet-master – the delicate ballerina, the coarse but warm-hearted muscleman and the clumsy clown Petrushka. Continuously exhibited and tortured by his master, Petrushka finally manages to escape. Yet his long-yearned-for freedom does not last long ...
By contrast, the ill-mannered and destructive child in Ravel's surreal and fantastical fantaise lyrique experiences a living nightmare when the objects maltreated by him, such as an armchair, teapot and wallpaper, come to life and set about their tormentor.

In rapid, revue-like sequence, Ravel uses richly impressionistic colours to paint an array of different characters – from the Chinese cup and hectically ticking grandfather clock to the mourning fairytale princess. With rich, traditional sounds, Stravinsky describes the colourful goings-on at the fair, finds delicate notes for his ballerina, powerful sounds for the muscleman and mercurial, clown-like melodies for the freedom-loving Petrushka. Stage, sounds, singers and acrobats meld into an experience which intoxicates all the senses.