The Pelleas Connection
2012 production of "Pelleas et Melisande" by the Opéra National de Paris
In a mysterious land of shadows and memories, a prince comes upon a frightened young woman in the woods—far from home and uncertain how she got there.
Despite her mysterious origins, the prince marries her—and then six months later, she falls in love with his half-brother—a cascade of events that leads to a tragic end.
Little known today, the 19th century symbolist play Pelléas and Mélisande fascinated Debussy, Faure, Schoenberg, Sibelius and others, prompting music that reflected the story’s world of inner conflict, in which nothing is clear—except ambiguity.
In this hour, we’ll hear what they made of it all.