Pelléas et Mélisande
With Magdalena Kožená (Mélisande) and Stéphane Degout (Pelléas). Music director: Charles Dutoit
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Cast
José van Dam — Golaud
Willard White — Arkel
Catherine Wyn-Rogers — Geneviève
Julie Mathevet — Yniold
Justin Hopkins — Berger et Médecin
Program notes
The second opera of the 2012 edition of the Verbier Festival: Pelleas et Melisande by Claude Debussy who would have celebrated his one hundred fiftieth birthday!
When Prince Golaud, grand-son of King Arkel of Allemonde, meets the young and beautiful creature with long hair, Melisande, he knows nothing about her. However, he marries her right away. A few months later, he talks about his marriage to his beloved half-brother, Pelleas who seems to be falling in love with the girl...
In March, medici.tv had webcast live the sublime production of Robert Wilson at the Opéra de Paris (with Philippe Jordan, Elena Tsallagova and Stéphane Degout, soon available in the catalogue). In Verbier, the same Pelleas with Stéphane Degout (named lyric artist of the year at the latest Victoires de la musique classique), the Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená (our picture), and José van Dam. Conducted by Charles Dutoit, this version of Debussy's masterpiece, made of long and beautiful recitatives, promises to be sublime!
Avec le soutien de l'Association des Amis
Magdalena Kožená appears courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH.
© Picture: Magdalena Kožená by Mathias Bothor/DG