Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande
Robert Wilson (stage director), Philippe Jordan (music director) – With Stéphane Degout (Pelléas), Elena Tsallagova (Mélisande), Anne Sofie von Otter (Geneviève), Vincent le Texier (Golaud)
Cast
Robert Wilson — Stage director, set designer, lighting
Frida Parmeggiani — Costumes designer
Heinrich Brunke — Lighting
Holm Keller — Dramaturgy
Giuseppe Frigeni — Co-stage director
Stephanie Engeln — Collaboration on sets
Alessandro di Stefano — Chorus master
Program notes
Debussy's masterpiece is brought to life with Philippe Jordan's music direction and Robert Wilson's fairytale-like sets and starring Stéphane Degout, Elena Tsallagova, Vincent Le Texier, and Anne Sofie von Otter.
Before discovering Maeterlinck's play, Debussy already had visions of his future opera: "Music begins when words are powerless to express; music is perfect for the inexpressible; I would like it to seem to come out of the shadows and, at times, to go back, always discreet." Maëterlinck's characters gave Debussy the inspiration he needed to make his dreams a reality…
A fateful enchantment holds sway over the castle of Allemonde. When Prince Golaud (Vincent le Texier), grandson of the aging King of Allemonde, meets the young and beautiful Mélisande (Elena Tsallagova) – a mysterious being with long hair – he knows nothing about her, but soon he marries her. Soon after Golaud brings her to his home, they find themselves unable to leave his family’s castle, a place racked by desolation and decay. A few months later, Golaud tells his dear half-brother Pelléas (Stéphane Degout) about his wedding. But Pelléas himself seems to be falling in love with the same young woman...
This opera was broadcast live on medici.tv.
