The Nightingale and the Chinese Emperor after Andersen (school performance)

The tale of The Nightingale and the Emperor sums up the beauty of music and birdsong: they are elusive and always renew our sense of wonder. Le Rossignol et l'Empereur, a chinoiserie written by someone who has never been to China, offers plenty of food for thought and provides an opportunity to hear some of the vanished instruments so dear to 18th-century birdwatchers and bird lovers, the bird flageolets.<hr class=‘break-tag’ />This tale also offers a contemporary look at the relationship between man and animals, at a time when biodiversity is under threat and birds are gradually disappearing from our soundscape.