Pelléas et Mélisande - Act I - Scene III

Pelléas et Mélisande
Act I: "Il fait sombre dans les jardins" & "Hoe! Hissé, hoe!"
Claude Debussy. Libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck.
Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera.
Conduction: Pierre Boulez.
Staging and direction: Peter Stein.

Pelléas....... Neill Archer
Mélisande..... Alison Hagley
Geneviève..... Penelope Walker

(w/ subs in spanish)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• opera
• debussy
• pelléas
• mélisande
• alison
• hagley
• archer
• boulez

[aciegracie]

Pelleas is played by my dad!!!!!! how cool?

[sallyarchermusic]

Pelleas is played by my dad too!!!!! me and @aciegracie are sisters. we are proud daughters.

[DoubleABattery1400]

claragary uses so many big words, he sounds like a fraud

[Fuliginosus]

Arkel wears his crown very low in this production, doesn't he? Very low and very tight.. Looks painful.

[sirmercutio99]

@ivanofna I would love to see it in a kinda Pre Raphaelite style something like "La Belle Dame sans Merci" by Dicksee.

[sallyarchermusic]

Pelias is my dad too aciegracie.. because we are sisters........... wooooh! our dad is great.

[amigomatt]

@lipsbach 'appalling', you mean?

[scornetpomfret]

trés bel opéra, mais trop lourdement mélancolique pour mon coeur, cela m'iprésse beaucoup trop

[lipsbach]

@claragary you don't have to apologize for your opinion, but you might want to work on your spelling a little...it's really appauling!

[LJBSasha]

@claragary: I'll recommend the recording Karajan made in 1978 or thereabouts - that might help. Otherwise, try to hear the entire opera before you judge it (and yes, Debussy has plenty of minor tonality!). Note that this scene is where the ill-fated lovers (she's driven into his arms by Golaud's jealousy as well as circumstance!) first meet: not the kind of scene where you'd expect something savage (and the storm hasn't started yet, it's portending...)...

[claragary]

I don't know but, to much pentatonic and mayor tonalities, too soft for me. Maybe more aggresive rythms with more disonante chords would of worked better when contrasting the ship at sea. I think the music is too laid back and soft. Maybe Wagner would of made it more exciting. Please forgive me to all those who really know about Opera, but this is my humble opinion. I like Debussy, but he's more into descriptive music in the natural and atmospherical sense. Sorry...