# I Love Pelleas Et Melissande



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

What else would I enjoy?

Thanks for suggestions in advance.


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## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

Parsifal. :tiphat:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Dukas's *Ariane et Barbe-Bleu* and Bartok's *Bluebeard's Castle.*


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Poking yourself in the eyes?

Sorry, Pelleas is my least favourite opera and I am allergic to it.

I'm not sure what opera a Pelleas fan should try next, but are you familiar with Debussy's song repertoire? Different from Pelleas (I can sit through a performance of them), but worth hearing if it's likely that you will love them.

N.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Poulenc's Dialogue of the Carmelites or Les Voix Humanites and Ravel's L'Enfant des Sortileges or L'Heure Espagnol might be a few other things to try out.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

The Conte said:


> Poking yourself in the eyes?
> 
> Sorry, Pelleas is my least favourite opera and I am allergic to it.
> 
> ...


It does it for me, I love the version I watched on Youtube it was minimalistic and beautiful, and I really liked the realistic ending.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

WildThing said:


> Parsifal. :tiphat:


This one is hitting the spot excellently, thanks for the awesome recommendation!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Captainnumber36 said:


> What else would I enjoy?
> 
> Thanks for suggestions in advance.


I don't know that opera at all and, if it is French, that is even worse because I just don't take well to French opera.

I think you could try Bellini's La Sonnambla. I am nuts about it, but then nobody else seems that excited about it so.....


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

howlingfantods said:


> Poulenc's Dialogue of the Carmelites or Les Voix Humanites and Ravel's L'Enfant des Sortileges or L'Heure Espagnol might be a few other things to try out.


I don't like to be pedantic (all right, maybe I do), but it's *Dialogues *(plural) *des Carmélites*, *La Voix Humaine* (singular, as there is only one singer in it) and *L'Enfant et les Sortilèges* (and the spells, not of the) ... oh, and *L'Heure Espagnole* with an e on the end.

You might also try Fauré's *Pénélope*.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

First, we should credit Erik Satie for giving Debussy the idea to compose an opera on Maeterlinck's Pelleas et Melisande. Satie was intending to compose an opera on the subject himself, but mentioned it to Debussy, who thought it was a very good idea, and went ahead with an opera of his own.

I'll try to stick to music with voices, but won't be exclusively making opera suggestions. I hope that's okay.

1. Claude Debussy: "Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien"--with narration (based on a five act play):






Conductor Thierry Fischer recorded the Boulez edition several years ago--which is the only edition to include every note that Debussy composed for the play. It was once issued as a free monthly CD from BBC magazine, but can be hard to find now. Otherwise, the Michael Tilson Thomas LSO recording on Sony is very good (see above link), and may be preferable, except for completists that want to hear every single note that Debussy wrote for the play.

Here's the Fischer/BBC recording on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martyrdom-Saint-Sebastian-Thierry-Fischer/dp/B008K6TA5M

2. French chamber songs (for voice & chamber ensemble)--by Faure, Ravel, Debussy, Delage, etc. (as sung by Anne Sofie von Otter, or Dame Janet Baker):









https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bonne-Chan...rds=anne+sofie+von+otter+french+chamber+songs

I would also recommend looking into Debussy's Melodies (for voice & piano accompaniment), as sung by sopranos Veronique Dietschy, Elly Ameling, or Sandrine Piau, or among male singers, Gerard Souzay (though I tend to prefer sopranos in this music myself). French Melodies are a vast subject, since most of the French composers of Debussy's era wrote a great many songs (Debussy, Ravel, Hahn, Chausson, Roussel, Faure, Satie, Poulenc, etc.).






















3. Maurice Ravel--his orchestral song cycle, "Scheherazade":










4. Wagner--his operas: Tristan und Isolde, Lohengrin, Tannhauser, and the already mentioned, Parsifal:










Here are various recommendable recordings of Wagner's Lohengrin and Parsifal:

Rafael Kubelik: Lohengrin:













Eugen Jochum: Lohengrin:





Rudolf Kempe: Lohengrin:





Hans Knappertsbusch, Rafael Kubelik, Herbert von Karajan: Parsifal:













5. Chausson: his orchestral song cycle, "Poeme de l'amour et de la mer", Op. 19 (especially sung by soprano Victoria de los Angeles), and possibly his opera, "Le Roi Arthus", and La Chanson perpetuelle Op. 37 (as sung by Sandrine Piau):




























6. Claude Debussy--La Damoiselle Elue (in two versions):

Orchestral version:





Version for soprano, piano and chorus: 





7. Albert Roussel: his operas, such as Padmavati: 



, and his 2 Poemes de Ronsard pour Flute et Voix (as sung by soprano Sandrine Piau):










8. One of Honegger's operas might interest you too, such as Jeanne d'Arc au Bucher, or possibly his incidental music, Le Roi David (conductor Serge Baudo is a good choice in this repertory):






9. Isaac Albeniz: possibly his opera, Merlin: 




10. One of Frederic Delius' operas might be of interest, as well, such as Fennimore and Gerda, or possibly The Magic Fountain:

Fennimore and Gerda: 



The Magic Fountain: 




11. Faure--his opera Pénélope:










12. Stravinsky--his opera, Le Rossignol, or The Nightingale:





 (I can imagine a better performance than the Boulez, but that's all I can find on You Tube.)

Stravinsky's orchestral work, Le Chant du Rossignol is drawn from the opera: 




13. Maurice Ravel--his ballet, Daphnis et Chloe: 




14. Nikolai Tcherepnin--his ballet, Narcisse et Echo:






15. Camile Saint-Saëns--his opera Samson et Dalila:










His duet, "Viens !"





16. Off the radar--a favorite disc of mine: "Une Flute Invisible"--with singers Sandrine Piau & Herve Lamy, and pianist Arthur Schoonderwoerd playing a period piano from Debussy's era: 




Of course, you may not like everything that I've mentioned above, which is to be expected, but I'll be surprised if you don't make some interesting new discoveries.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> I don't like to be pedantic (all right, maybe I do), but it's *Dialogues *(plural) *des Carmélites*, *La Voix Humaine* (singular, as there is only one singer in it) and *L'Enfant et les Sortilèges* (and the spells, not of the) ... oh, and *L'Heure Espagnole* with an e on the end.
> 
> You might also try Fauré's *Pénélope*.


Thanks, it was off the top of my head and I'm (obviously) a Germanophile, not a Francophile.

One of my favorite Carmens is in German--to my ears, the language sounds better, like 100% reduction in those horrible French nasal vowels :lol:


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

howlingfantods said:


> One of my favorite Carmens is in German--


The one with Christa Ludwig?


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

wkasimer said:


> The one with Christa Ludwig?


Yup, that's the one!


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

WildThing said:


> Parsifal. :tiphat:





Captainnumber36 said:


> This one is hitting the spot excellently, thanks for the awesome recommendation!


...oh boy, you're in for it now.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

lextune said:


> ...oh boy, you're in for it now.


I don't think he has anything to fear. There's always the chance that TC's veteran anti-Wagnerian obsessive might fly in to insist that Captainnumber36 and everyone else must realize that _Parsifal_ is too long, that its libretto is bad, that its Christian references are bogus, etc., etc., but we have effective pesticides on hand to deal with such invasions.

What really _is_ interesting is that Debussy was a bit obsessed with _Parsifal_ when he came to compose his own opera. A fanatical devotee of Wagner in his youth who once attempted to play the entire score of _Tristan und Isolde_ on a wager (he lost), Debussy turned away from Wagner's strenuous emotionality and quasi-symphonic approach to musical structure, but his enchantment with Wagner's final work proved indelible. _Parsifal_'s harmonic subtleties, glowing orchestration ("as if lit from behind," Debussy said) and dreamlike atmosphere captivated him, and as he worked on _Pelleas_ he complained about the difficulty of "exorcising the ghost of old Klingsor." To anyone who knows both operas, the reminiscences of _Parsifal_ in _Pelleas_ will be unmistakable.

Debussy called _Parsifal_ "one of the loveliest monuments of sound ever raised to the serene glory of music." I might say that _Pelleas_ is its truest and greatest successor.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> Debussy called _Parsifal_ "one of the loveliest monuments of sound ever raised to the serene glory of music." *I might say that Pelleas is its truest and greatest successor.*


Now you just saved me twenty bucks in the Tosca thread, but now you give me something to look into and possibly purchase.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

People have already suggested Fauré's _Pénélope_, Poulenc's _Dialogues des Carmélites_, and Ravel's two operas. _Parsifal_, too. Excellent choices.

I'll add:

Bloch's _Macbeth_
Cras' _Polyphème_
D'Indy's _Fervaal_ & _L'Étranger_
Dukas's _Ariane et Barbe-bleue_
Lazzari's _La tour de feu_ & _La lépreuse_
Magnard's _Guercoeur_ & _Bérénice_
Rabaud's _Mârouf, savetier de Caire_
Reyer's _Salammbô_
Ropartz's _Le pays_
Séverac's _Le coeur du moulin_ & _Héliogabale_

Late (post-1900) Massenet

And Bruneau, if any were recorded!


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## 89Koechel (Nov 25, 2017)

Josquin - Oh, these are very-fine recommendations, as they run the gamut, thru Ravel, Roussel, and even Albeniz (of all people)! … Well, as for your #1 - "Le Martyre ….", by Debussy, himself … there IS one, other that might give (better) the scope and substance of this very-remarkable piece … the old recording with Charles Munch, and the Boston SO (of 1956). I've listened-to Michael TT, and his version is very good; also, haven't listened to Thierry Fischer, but HIS version should be very good, also. …. Overall, though, if one wants a "juxtaposition", so to speak, of Debussy's "Pelleas and Melisande", and his (probably) BEST, other work … for concerted forces w/voices, then I'd always recommend that exceptional, old Munch version of "Martyrdom" … as the comparison to the virtues/vices of "Pelleas …" …. Just an opinion, and thanks.


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> as he worked on _Pelleas_ he complained about the difficulty of "exorcising the ghost of old Klingsor."


Debussy went so far as to tear up a scene that he felt he couldn't free from Klingsor's ghost!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

lextune said:


> Debussy went so far as to tear up a scene that he felt he couldn't free from Klingsor's ghost!


You can still find the sorcerer's traces in the interludes Debussy inserted between the scenes: hints of the Parsifal motif, the procession of the Grail knights, the Act 3 prelude's "wandering" motif, the style of the orchestration, with its soft blends of winds and strings. There's even a reminiscence of Siegfried's forest murmurs.


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