-
Pelléas et Mélisande State Opera Vienna - Wien Mon 27.Oct 2025 19:00 replace me !Pelléas et Mélisande State Opera Vienna - Wien Thu 30.Oct 2025 19:00 replace me !Pelléas et Mélisande State Opera Vienna - Wien Sun 02.Nov 2025 replace me !Pelléas et Mélisande State Opera Vienna - Wien Wed 05.Nov 2025 replace me !The fairytale kingdom of Allemonde - a land of oppressive darkness - is ruled by the aged King Arkel.
His family includes his daughter Geneviève and his grandsons, the half-brothers Golaud and Pelléas. One day, Golaud finds a mysterious young woman by the water. The beautiful Mélisande. He takes her home and marries her. But Pelléas also feels strangely attracted to her and seeks her out more and more. Finally, Mélisande also confesses her love for him. However, their escape together is prevented by the jealous Golaud: He kills Pelléas and seriously injures his pregnant wife. After the birth of their child - a daughter - Mélisande dies. She leaves the desperate Golaud in the dark about the nature of her relationship with Pelléas until the end.
Claude Debussy's only completed opera is considered a solitaire in opera history that cannot be assigned to any specific tradition. Beneath the deceptive surface, from the first bar of the music, a second, almost bottomless, inexplicable dimension shimmers through which the symbolist piece gains its deeper meaning. The music is very closely tied to the peculiarities of the French language and displays an extraordinary unity of word and sound. The orchestra captivates with its refined colourfulness, the tonal language is restrained and at the same time full of inner and internalized tensions and passions. At the same time, according to the conductor, there is a kind of purity in the opera that seems to put the listener in a state of suspension, far outside the real world.The opera, which premiered in Paris in 1902, is based on Maurice Maeterlinck's play of the same name - an essential work of symbolism. Accordingly, the setting also thrives on forebodings, strange coincidences, allusions and a dramaturgy that is only partially oriented towards a logical plot sequence. Roughly speaking, Pelléas et Mélisande can be seen as a parable, a love triangle.
But the play wants more. All the characters are drawn to the mysterious and inexplicable world of water from which Mélisande seems to have sprung. They are all trying to get to the place where the key to life lies, deeply hidden in the unfathomability of the water. But access to this secret seems to be denied to mortals. Although Pelléas et Mélisande is regularly staged around the world, this treasure is still considered an insider tip by connoisseurs.
(Source: wiener-staatsoper.at)
