Peggy Reynolds gives an introduction to two of the early twentieth century’s most intriguing operas, Maurice Ravel’s L’heure Espagnole and L’enfant et les Sortileges. General Director of Glyndebourne David Pickard praises Ravel’s mastery of orchestration and the unique soundworlds he creates in these two fascinating works. Richard Langham Smith, Research Professor at the Royal College of Music, explores the operatic farce of L’heure Espagnole and considers psychoanalytic readings of L’enfant et les Sortileges. And pianist and musicologist Dr Emily Kilpatrick explores the texts upon which the operas were based and tells us of Ravel’s fascination with Spain, childhood, and the music of machines. (Producer: Mair Bosworth for Festival 2012)Musical extracts used with kind permission of Decca.