The power of the fairy tale, according to psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, is not that it holds our attention, but that it stimulates our imagination.

That’s true of adults as well as children, which is why Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel & Gretel, and others have all made appearances in classical music.

In this hour, tales of enchantment in works by Mendelssohn, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Stravinsky—and more.

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