DEBUSSY: Pelléas et Mélisande

Pelléas et Mélisande
Opera in five (5) Acts
Music by Claude Debussy
Libretto in French by Maurice Maeterlinck
First Performance: Opera Comique, Paris, 1902

Glyndebourne Festival Opera (UK), 1999
Christiane Oelze, Richard Croft, John Tomlinson
London Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Andrew Davis

Debussy presented his only composition for the operatic stage at the Opera Comique in Paris, in 1902. Pelléas et Mélisande's libretto is based on Maurice Maeterlinck's symbolist play of the same name. I cannot help but think that Debussy composed this specifically for Wagner. It seems to me, that the opera represents one end of a spectrum of which the other end has already been claimed by Wagner, especially his Tristan und Isolde.

The style, both vocal and instrumental, cannot be said to be the same as the German's. In fact, Debussy's style is easily identifiable as his and his alone, probably the reason the musical idioms he used in the opera remain strange even to modern audiences. The composer with the closest musical idiom with Debussy is without doubt,Maurice Ravel, but even he veered into a completely different world quite distinct from his Impressionist senior and contemporary.

Wagner's Tristan und Isolde manages to knit together the musical forces of the entire opera via a leitmotif technique of which he developed himself. Thus fragments of a theme can appear just about anywhere in the score, treated depending on scene and mood conventions. For example, the Overture hints at what will likely happen in the entire opera, and snatches here and there of fragments and phrases of music introduced earlier in the overture get to be developed in the succeeding Acts. Wagner uses chromaticism, which laid the ground work for atonality, to achieve his objectives.

Debussy, on the other hand, had no use of Wagner's techniques. He seemed conscious of NOT treading into Wagner territory. No suggestive operatic interludes. It's all atmospheric music, the overall effect is magical and mesmerizing, ravishing our senses with such exquisite and delicate music. However, there's hardly a melodic tune you can hum along as you make your way out.

With Wagner, Tristan und Isolde sometimes manages to capture the essence of love that is eternal, with Debussy, he is more concerned with the magical and other-worldliness qualities of this tragic fairy tale.

Debussy Pelléas at Mélisande is precisely that, partly due to the nature of Maeterlinck's play. Set in a Medieval land, it tells of Mélisande, lost and forsaken in the forest, who was found by Golaud and subsequently took her home as his bride. However, she fell in love with Golaud's half-brother, Pelléas and this sets off a jealous rage from Golaud which ultimately led to their tragic ends.

Maeterlinck setting evokes an imaginary, magical place. Debussy's score continues where language ends: it takes over and continues to articulate the dream-like inner thoughts of the doomed lovers.

Hats off to the performers, powerful characterizations made this difficult-to-perform opera a sight to behold, and the orchestra's pacing was never at any point, in danger of overwhelming the performers. Jake Arditti as the 10-year old Yniold was fantastic! Any kid who can float those unsingable notes that are hardly melodic should be congratulated.

The stage was however, the most astounding thing of the entire production. A mere change in lighting and some minor alterations and the scene changes to something else although the stage settings were kept largely the same. Impressively, you are made to look at different worlds during different scenes but in fact, you are not.