MUSIC / DANCE : Ravel Opera Evokes Magic of Childhood

A 6- or 7-year-old boy throws a tantrum. He rips up his favorite storybook, tears the wallpaper, kicks a chair or two, tears the pendulum out of a grandfather clock, stokes up the fire, torments the cat and otherwise wreaks havoc in his room.

All the objects of his anger begin to turn on him, however, and eventually he learns a lesson about the consequences of his destructive actions.

Not exactly a typical opera plot. But this story, as told in a poem by Colette, became the magical opera “L’Enfant et les Sortileges” by Maurice Ravel.

The Pacific Symphony will present a semi-staged performance of it today at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The title is difficult to translate. One opera book says “The Child and the Magic.” A recording lists it as “The Child and the Enchantments.” The Pacific suggests “The Child and the Sorceries.”

Perhaps it’s best to stick with the French, which is what the Pacific will do, relying on supertitles to get the meanings across to the audience.

Music director Carl St. Clair will conduct. The performance will be given in association with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, which will provide the vocal soloists, including mezzo-soprano Stephanie Vlahos as the boy. The Pacific Chorale and the Pacific Chorale Children’s Chorus also will sing.

Colette originally wrote the piece with the idea of turning it into a ballet. But the poem was sent to Ravel while he was serving in the French army during World War I.

Ravel was interested in the piece, but the trauma of the war years, his tendency to work slowly and various interruptions delayed the writing. The work was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1925.

No trace of problems can be heard in the score, however.

The music ranges from the magical evocations of childhood, nature and the transformations of the household objects into living creatures, to the rough, knockabout havoc for the child’s temper tantrum.

Ravel also incorporated a fox trot into the score for the song of a broken teapot and Chinese cup.

He created a memorable scene involving the child’s delirium when the word problems in his math homework also come to life.

“Mon Dieu!” he cries. “C’est l’Arithmetique!” (“My God. It’s arithmetic!”)

Additionally, the composer wrote a scandalously sensual, wordless duet for two cats.

“Miaou,” they purr to each other, with the child being the last thing on their minds. (“Miaou!” is French for “meow!”)

The spell is finally broken when the boy performs a good deed for a wounded squirrel, and the animals, which up to then have pursued him, realize he will grow up kind and good. They help him call for his mother, and the work ends peacefully.

What: Ravel’s one-act opera “L’Enfant et les Sortileges.”

When: Thursday, May 7, at 8 p.m.

Where: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: San Diego (405) Freeway to Bristol Street exit. North to Town Center Drive. (Center is one block east of South Coast Plaza.)

Wherewithal: $12 to $36.

Where to Call: (714) 556-2787.