Ravel opera opens Redwood Symphony program in May

Redwood Symphony will be joined by Bay Shore Lyric Opera Company and Serenade of Masterworks Chorale in presenting Ravel’s “The Child and the Spells” at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 16, in the Main Theater of Cañada College, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., Redwood City.

The one-hour opera, known as “L’enfant et les sortileges” in French, sounds like a variation on “Toy Story,” but it came decades before the Pixar version. A young boy, who has always mistreated his toys, pets and even the plants and animals outside the house, finds himself the object of their revenge!

The audience will meet a very funny collection of characters, including a pair of meowing cats, and hear arias for a teacup and a sofa — with interpolations of jazz and even Puccini. It will be presented with supertitles.

To complete the program, former Redwood Symphony member Robert Marcus returns to perform Brahms’s first clarinet sonata, here orchestrated by the great Italian composer, Luciano Berio.

“This is the clarinet concerto that Brahms never got around to writing!” said Maestro Eric Kujawsky, who will conduct. He will also offer his own insights into the program at a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m.

Redwood Symphony, an all-volunteer orchestra, is dedicated to the performance of an ambitious, contemporary repertoire, as well as the great orchestral classics. The innovative programming and emphasis on education are two reasons why so many of the most talented musicians from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area volunteer their time to play, and why audiences and critics have been so enthusiastic about Redwood Symphony’s artistry.

Tickets from $10-$25 are available at RedwoodSymphony.org, and children under 18, accompanied by an adult, are admitted free. Parking at Cañada College is ample and free.

Redwood Symphony will conclude its anniversary season at 8 p.m. July 25 with “Rites: Stravinsky and Orff,” which will feature Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Orff’s Carmina Burana. Masterworks Chorale and the Peninsula Girls Chorus will join the symphony in the concert at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center, 600 N. Delaware St., San Mateo. Tickets are available at RedwoodSymphony.org.