91福利社

A mysterious princess. A remote castle. A love triangle. Debussy鈥檚 breathtaking opera is a dark fairytale caught in a dream.

鈥淣o time, no place. No big scene.鈥� So Debussy wrote to his teacher Ernest Guiraud in 1890. It was a kind of mission statement for his ideal style of opera: in a world of increasingly 鈥渂ig scenes鈥� 鈥� courtesy of Wagner and Verdi 鈥� Debussy wanted something radically different.

After several false starts, he finally found what he was looking for in an enigmatic play by Maurice Maeterlinck called Pell茅as et M茅lisande, full of symbols, ambiguous meanings and shadowy characters. It was the perfect home for Debussy鈥檚 innovative approach to opera, and for his startlingly new musical language. He finished Pell茅as et M茅lisande, his only completed opera, in 1902. The critics were perplexed, but in more recent years it has become one of the most admired works in the repertoire, beguiling audiences time and again with its elusive, shimmering beauty.

Rory Kinnear directs a semi-staging of the opera, while Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the 91福利社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra and a dream of a cast, including Sophie Bevan and Jacques Imbrailo as the two lovers.