Schedule for Debussy: "Pelleas et Melisande", opera in concert 2022

Composer: Claude Debussy

Artists:

Henriette Bonde-Hansen (soprano, Denmark)
Roman Shulakov (tenor)
Nina Minasyan (soprano, Armenia)
Sarah Kestl (mezzo-soprano, UK)
Roman Shulakov (tenor)
Andrew Foster-Williams (bass-baritone, UK)
Peter Winkies (bass)

The Russian National Orchestra
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor - Mikhail Pletnev

The Moscow State Chamber Choir
Artistic director and conductor - Vladimir Minin

Conductor - Paul Daniel / United Kingdom /
The program includes:

Debussy
"Pelleas and Melisande", opera in concert




Synopsis

Act 1
Scene 1: A forest
Prince Golaud, grandson of King Arkel of Allemonde, has become lost while hunting in the forest. He discovers a frightened, weeping girl sitting by a spring in which a crown is visible. She reveals her name is Mйlisande but nothing else about her origins and refuses to let Golaud retrieve her crown from the water. Golaud persuades her to come with him before the forest gets dark.
Scene 2: A room in the castle
Six months have passed. Geneviиve, the mother of the princes Golaud and Pellйas, reads a letter to the aged and nearly blind King Arkel. It was sent by Golaud to his brother Pellйas. In it Golaud reveals that he has married Mйlisande, although he knows no more about her than on the day they first met. Golaud fears that Arkel will be angry with him and tells Pellйas to find how he reacts to the news. If the old man is favourable then Pellйas should light a lamp from the tower facing the sea on the third day; if Golaud does not see the lamp shining, he will sail on and never return home. Arkel had planned to marry the widowed Golaud to Princess Ursule in order to put an end to "long wars and ancient hatreds", but he bows to fate and accepts Golaud's marriage to Mйlisande. Pellйas enters, weeping. He has received a letter from his friend Marcellus, who is on his deathbed, and wants to travel to say goodbye to him. Arkel thinks Pellйas should wait for the return of Golaud, and also reminds Pellйas of his own father, lying sick in bed in the castle. Geneviиve tells Pellйas not to forget to light the lamp for Golaud.
Scene 3: Before the castle
Geneviиve and Mйlisande walk in the castle grounds. Mйlisande remarks how dark the surrounding gardens and forest are. Pellйas arrives. They look out to sea and notice a large ship departing and a lighthouse shining, Mйlisande foretells that it will sink. Night falls. Geneviиve goes off to look after Yniold, Golaud's young son by his previous marriage. Pellйas attempts to take Melisande's hand to help her down the steep path but she refuses saying that she is holding flowers. He tells her he might have to go away tomorrow. Mйlisande asks him why.
Act 2

Scene 1: A well in the park
It is a hot summer day. Pellйas has led Mйlisande to one of his favourite spots, the "Blind Men's Well". People used to believe it possessed miraculous powers to cure blindness but since the old king's eyesight started to fail, they no longer come there. Mйlisande lies down on the marble rim of the well and tries to see to the bottom. Her hair loosens and falls into the water. Pellйas notices how extraordinarily long it is. He remembers that Golaud first met Mйlisande beside a spring and asks if he tried to kiss her at that time but she does not answer. Mйlisande plays with the ring Golaud gave her, throwing it up into the air until it slips from her fingers into the well. Pellйas tells her not to be concerned but she is not reassured. He also notes that the clock was striking twelve as the ring dropped into the well. Mйlisande asks him what she should tell Golaud. He replies, "the truth."
Scene 2: A room in the castle
Golaud is lying in bed with Mйlisande at the bedside. He is wounded, having fallen from his horse while hunting. The horse suddenly bolted for no reason as the clock struck twelve. Mйlisande bursts into tears and says she feels ill and unhappy in the castle. She wants to go away with Golaud. He asks her the reason for her unhappiness but she refuses to say. When he asks her if the problem is Pellйas, she replies that he is not the cause but she does not think he likes her. Golaud tells her not to worry: Pellйas can behave oddly and he is still very young. Mйlisande complains about the gloominess of the castle, today was the first time she saw the sky. Golaud says that she is old enough to be crying for such reasons and takes her hands to comfort her and notices the wedding ring is missing. Golaud becomes furious, Mйlisande claims she dropped it in a cave by the sea where she went to collect shells with little Yniold. Golaud orders her to go and search for it at once before the tide comes in, even though night has fallen. When Mйlisande replies that she is afraid to go alone, Golaud tells her to take Pellйas along with her.
Scene 3: Before a cave
Pellйas and Mйlisande make their way down to the cave in pitch darkness. Mйlisande is frightened to enter, but Pellйas tells her she will need to describe the place to Golaud to prove she has been there. The moon comes out lighting the cave and reveals three beggars sleeping in the cave. Pellйas explains there is a famine in the land. He decides they should come back another day.
Act 3

Scene 1: One of the towers of the castle
Mйlisande is at the tower window, singing a song (Mes longs cheveux) as she combs her hair. Pellйas appears and asks her to lean out so he can kiss her hand as he is going away the next day. He cannot reach her hand but her long hair tumbles down from the window and he kisses and caresses it instead. Pellйas playfully ties Mйlisande's hair to a willow tree in spite of her protests that someone might see them. A flock of doves takes flight. Mйlisande panics when she hears Golaud's footsteps approaching. Golaud dismisses Pellйas and Mйlisande as nothing but a pair of children and leads Pellйas away.
Scene 2: The vaults of the castle
Golaud leads Pellйas down to the castle vaults, which contain the dungeons and a stagnant pool which has "the scent of death." He tells Pellйas to lean over and look into the chasm while he holds him safely. Pellйas finds the atmosphere stifling and they leave.
Scene 3: A terrace at the entrance of the vaults
Pellйas is relieved to breathe fresh air again. It is noon. He sees Geneviиve and Mйlisande at a window in the tower. Golaud tells Pellйas that there must be no repeat of the "childish game" between him and Mйlisande last night. Mйlisande is pregnant and the least shock might disturb her health. It is not the first time he has noticed there might be something between Pellйas and Mйlisande but Pellйas should avoid her as much as possible without making this look too obvious.
Scene 4: Before the castle
Golaud sits with his little son, Yniold, in the darkness before dawn and questions him about Pellйas and Mйlisande. The boy reveals little that Golaud wants to know since he is too innocent to understand what he is asking. He says that Pellйas and Mйlisande often quarrel about the door and that they have told Yniold he will one day be as big as his father. Golaud is puzzled when learning that they (Pellйas and Mйlisande) never send Yniold away because they are afraid when he is not there and keep on crying in the dark. He admits that he once saw Pellйas and Mйlisande kiss "when it was raining". Golaud lifts his son on his shoulders to spy on Pellйas and Mйlisande through the window but Yniold says that they are doing nothing other than looking at the light. He threatens to scream unless Golaud lets him down again. Golaud leads him away.
Act 4
Scene 1: A room in the castle
Pellйas tells Mйlisande that his father is getting better and has asked him to leave on his travels. He arranges a last meeting with Mйlisande by the Blind Men's Well in the park.

Act 4, scene 2, in the original production, stage design by Ronsin
Scene 2: The same
Arkel tells Mйlisande how he felt sorry for her when she first came to the castle "with the strange, bewildered look of someone constantly awaiting a calamity." But now that is going to change and Mйlisande will "open the door to a new era that I foresee." He asks her to kiss him. Golaud bursts in with blood on his forehead — he claims it was caused by a thorn hedge. When Mйlisande tries to wipe the blood away, he angrily orders her not to touch him and demands his sword. He says that another peasant has died of starvation. Golaud notices Mйlisande is trembling and tells her he is not going to kill her with the sword. He mocks the "great innocence" Arkel says he sees in Mйlisande's eyes. He commands her to close them or "I will shut them for a long time." He tells Mйlisande that she disgusts him and drags her around the room by her hair. When Golaud leaves, Arkel asks if he is drunk. Mйlisande simply replies that he does not love her any more. Arkel comments: "If I were God, I would have pity on the hearts of men."
Scene 3: A well in the park
Yniold tries to lift a boulder to free his golden ball, which is trapped between it and some rocks. As darkness falls, he hears a flock of sheep suddenly stop bleating. A shepherd explains that they have turned onto a path that doesn't lead back to the sheepfold, but does not answer when Yniold asks where they will sleep. Yniold goes off to find someone to talk to.
Scene 4: The same
Pellйas arrives alone at the well. He is worried that he has become deeply involved with Mйlisande and fears the consequences. He knows he must leave but first, he wants to see Mйlisande one last time and tell her things he has kept to himself. Mйlisande arrives. She was able to slip out without Golaud's noticing. At first she is distant but when Pellйas tells her he is going away she becomes more affectionate. After admitting his love for her, Mйlisande confesses that she has loved him since she first saw him. Pellйas hears the servants shutting the castle gates for the night. Now they are locked out, but Mйlisande says that it is for the better. Pellйas is resigned to fate too. After the two kiss, Mйlisande hears something moving in the shadows. It is Golaud, who has been watching the couple from behind a tree. Golaud strikes down a defenseless Pellйas with his sword and kills him. Mйlisande is also wounded but she flees into the woods saying to a dying Pellйas that she does not have courage.
Act 5

A bedroom in the castle
Mйlisande sleeps in a sick bed after giving birth to her child. The doctor assures Golaud that despite her wound, her condition is not serious. Overcome with guilt, Golaud claims he has killed for no reason. Pellйas and Mйlisande merely kissed "like a brother and sister." Mйlisande wakes and asks for a window to be opened so she can see the sunset. Golaud asks the doctor and Arkel to leave the room so he can speak with Mйlisande alone. He blames himself for everything and begs Melisande's forgiveness. Golaud presses Mйlisande to confess her forbidden love for Pellйas. She maintains her innocence in spite of Golaud's increasingly desperate pleas to her to tell the truth. Arkel and the doctor return. Arkel tells Golaud to stop before he kills Mйlisande, but he replies "I have already killed her." Arkel hands Mйlisande her newborn baby girl but she is too weak to lift the child in her arms and remarks that the baby does not cry and that she will live a sad existence. The room fills with serving women, although no one can tell who has summoned them. Mйlisande quietly dies. At the moment of death, the serving women fall to their knees. Arkel comforts the sobbing Golaud.