Pelléas et Mélisande – Holland Festival

This work is regarded as an absolute apex in opera history. Pelléas et Mélisande, with its dreamy, ominous atmosphere, is the only opera Claude Debussy finished. The music reflects the strongly visual and sensitive language of Maurice Maeterlinck’s libretto, which tells of the jaundiced triangular relationship between the half-brothers Golaud and Pelléas and the girl Mélisande. Like in many fairy tales, things do not end well. The music is performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The title roles are performed by the young star singers Paul Appleby and Elena Tsallagova. It is directed by the Frenchman Olivier Py, whose previous performance at the Holland Festival was Benjamin Britten’s musical drama Curlew River.

I

Golaud, grandson of King Arkel of Allemonde loses his way in the woods while hunting. By a spring he meets a fearful, crying girl, Mélisande.

I

Golaud, grandson of King Arkel of Allemonde loses his way in the woods while hunting. By a spring he meets a fearful, crying girl, Mélisande.

What has happened to her ‒ other than her crown having fallen in the water ‒ is not entirely clear. Golaud takes her home. Two months later, in a letter to his half brother Pelléas, he says that he is married to Mélisande. Their mother Geneviève reads the letter out to Arkel, who is more or less blind. As a sign of consent to the marriage Pelléas will light a lamp on a tower of the castle. When Mélisande arrives, Pelléas and his sister-in-law feel a strong sympathy for one another. Pelléas’ father is seriously ill and lies in a chamber in the castle.

II

Pelléas and Mélisande have a conversation by a spring in the park. Mélisande plays with her wedding ring and, to her horror, drops it in the water. After a fall from his horse the wounded Golaud is cared for by Mélisande. He notices that she is not wearing her wedding ring. She tells him she lost it in a cave on the coast. Golaud orders her to search for the ring there with Pelléas. Of course they both know that they won’t find the ring in the cave.

III

Mélisande is combing her long hair at an open window, allowing her hair to hang down outside. Pelléas kisses her locks, and Golaud sees. He warns them to stop their games. Golaud has Pelléas and Mélisande spied on by his young son Yniold. The boy tells him that they stand together in the chamber, looking at the lamp.

IV

Pelléas’ father suspects that his son is in danger and tells him to go on a journey. During the emotional farewell from Mélisande, Golaud spies on them and then kills Pelléas in a surge of envy. Mélisande flees.

V

Mélisande has had a daughter and is now dying. Golaud interrogates her about her relationship with Pelléas. Mélisande doesn’t know that Pelléas is dead. She tells him that their interactions were innocent, loses consciousness and dies.

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music Claude Debussy libretto Maurice Maeterlinck conductor Stéphane Denève direction Olivier Py set, costumes Pierre-André Weitz light design Bertrand Killy assistant conductor Aldert Vermeulen assistant director Clément Debras, Meisje Hummel, Barbara Poll assistent set Pierre Lebon assistent costumes Mathieu Crescence repetitors Ernst Munneke, Jan-Paul Grijpink language coach Nathalie Dang production leader Liesbeth Kruyt show leader Merel Francissen rehearsal coordinator Ruud Burgering edition Durand Editions Musicales cast Frederik Bergman, Katia Ledoux, Elena Tsallagova, NN, Tölzer Knabenchor, Peter Rose, Brian Mulligan, Paul Appleby orchestra Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra choir Chorus of Dutch National Opera rehearsal leader Ching-Lien Wu production Dutch National Opera with the support of Brook Foundation

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