Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Pelléas et Mélisande

The annual transfer of a production from Glyndebourne to the Proms this year saw Herheim's baffling production of Debussy's masterpiece. 

There’s no doubt that Mélisande endeavours to escape past troubles when she first appears in Barrie Kosky’s production of Debussy’s opera, yet Nadja Mchantaf is no reticent, wispy maiden. Every vocal and physical gesture – always precise and penetrating – displays an atypically forthright quest for vitality, something that Arkel’s chauvinistic world does not readily offer.

Stefan Herheim's dreamlike production of Debussy's opera sets it squarely in the Sussex manor house that gave birth to Glyndebourne's festival. 

Stellar voices and orcheatra and some inspired staging choices elevate an otherwise heavy-handed production of Pelléas et Mélisande from the WNO at the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Introspected and atmospheric, this late romantic opera appeals to the psychotherapists within us.

Debussy’s opera of half-lights succeeds in taming the glare of the midsummer sun in Garsington’s new staging.

Franz Welser-Möst led a radiant performance of Debussy’s operatic masterpiece directed by Yuval Sharon, starring Elliot Madore, Martina Janková, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann.

After over a century, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande finally received its Norwegian première in a fascinating production by Barbora Horáková Joly.

Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande is beautifully realised in Claus Guth's now classic production, revived with a new cast of principals at Oper Frankfurt.

Sir David McVicar’s new production of Pelléas et Mélisande for Scottish Opera is stylish and lit like a painting. 

Anyone expecting a wishing well, castle and healthy portion of pomp in Dmitri Tcherniakov’s new production of Pélleas et Mélisande is in for a big surprise.

Great opera at the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Esa-Pekka Salonen conducted Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande as part of the City of Light, a retrospective that examines works seen in Paris during the first half of the 20th century. 

A roster of star performers and a sprinkling of maestro magic turn this semi-staged concert into a memorable event. Shame about the big ideas.

Fine orchestral and singing performances in ETO's Pelléas et Mélisande aren't enough to overcome some of the work's difficulties.

Kent Nagano and the OSM came up trumps in concert version of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.

The two Danieles – Gatti and Abbado – triumphed in the final opera of the 78th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with a heavenly new production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.

Mélisande as Lulu in David Pountney's unfulfilling production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at Welsh National Opera. 

Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande is on the bill at the Paris Opera. How to control one's enthusiasm for a work that is so delicate and so evocative, served up by such highly devoted artists?

With the Philharmonia on top form, a superlative cast and clever touches of direction, this was a truly stunning concert performance of Debussy's only opera.

Opera at the 2012 Proms began with a performance of Debussy’s only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande. Conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the production celebrated the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, and marked the 24 years since Gardiner first brought the work to the Royal Albert Hall with the Opéra de Lyon.

Claude Debussy’s only opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, calls for a spring in a forest, scenes in a palace, a well in a park and a scene in the palace vaults. Ever since its premiere in 1902, it has been a difficult work to stage, and indeed to appreciate. Its complex symbolism, impressionistic music and lack of any memorable melodies were not a good recipe for a runaway hit.

In his program notes for Pelléas et Mélisande, director K. James McDowell refers to the only opera Claude Debussy ever completed as "a towering masterpiece in the operatic repertoire.

Some in the audience stormed to their feet at curtain call with exuberant bravos for the cast and conductor. Others walked out at the first intermission. “A monumental success,” one claimed. “The worst opera I’ve ever seen,” another said leaving the theater.

Luise Kautz' Inszenierung von Claude Debussys' verwunschenem Opernmärchen verschwimmt zwischen Fiktion und Realität.

On ne pourra pas dire que l’équipe des metteurs en scène/chorégraphes Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui et Damien Jalet, associée à Marina Abramovic qui signait et le décor et le concept, aient fait dans le conventionnel, offrant une approche à la fois futuriste et rétro de Pelléas et Mélisande.

Vendredi dernier, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France nous donnait à entendre un audacieux portrait des temps contemporains, entre souffrance, galanterie et chant de vie.   

Bei ihrem philharmonischen Abonnementkonzert lieferten die Berliner Philharmoniker leider meistenteils nur Dienst nach Vorschrift ab, auch wenn dies immer noch Musizieren auf allerhöchstem Niveau ist.

La mise en scène à Bastille de Robert Wilson, d’une grande poésie plastique et gestuelle, réussi le pari de ne pas sacrifier l’onirisme à l’opposition des contraires. L'opéra est servi par des interprètes excellents.

Marco Arturo Marelli hat für diese Inszenierung wie immer solide Arbeit geleistet, was Personenführung und psychologische Charakterisierung der Charaktere betrifft, doch muss einschränkend gesagt werden, dass ihm vieles schon viel besser gelungen ist. 

Il est tentant de plaquer sur l’essence poétique du livret de Maeterlinck, à la fois illogique et cohérent, des relectures, des idées de mise en scène ou des projections plus ou moins pertinentes – en bref : de rationnaliser un propos laissé volontairement à l’imagination. 

Surréaliste, psychanalytique, ce Pélléas et Mélisande l’est donc assurément. Mais c’est peut-être sa naïveté, sa tendresse presque enfantine, qui l’emporte.

Eine Rarität der Sonderklasse eröffnete die diesjährigen Münchener Opernfestspiele. Claude Debussys Pelléas et Mélisande war in einer neuen Produktion im Prinzregententheater zu sehen, konnte aber schlussendlich leider nur musikalisch punkten.

La mise en scène déconcertante de Christophe Honoré n’arrive pas à la cheville de la direction musicale de Kazushi Ono.

Au centre du week-end "Love Stories" à la Philharmonie, l'Orchestre de Paris donnait un concert autour de "L’Amour interdit", avec Fabien Gabel à la direction. Au programme Wagner, Strauss, Debussy : de très beaux moments, mais un Don Quichotte un peu en-dessous.

Lorenzo Fioronis Heidelberger Inszenierung von Debussys Pelléas et Mélisande beeindruckt durch eine psychologisch ausgeklügelte Lesart.