OPERA EXPLAINED An Introduction to… DEBUSSY Pelléas et Mélisande - Thomson Smillie

Category: Education
Language: English
Keywords: Classical Culture Music Naxos

Written by Thomson Smillie
Read by David Timson
Format: MP3

If you would like to listen to some of the ridiculously beautiful arias used in this great AB, in its highest quality available (in digital form, Nothing beats Vinyl or live) here is the link… https://open.spotify.com/album/4QyHpf6PpJ7igco7HsvRwG

This series introduces, in words and music, the plot and background of major operas. Using the principal themes and arias, taken from the Naxos recording of the complete work, Thomson Smillie is informative yet entertaining, enabling the listener to get more from this remarkable art form.

Dating from the last decade of the nineteenth century, Pelléas et Mélisande points the way into the twentieth century. The score is hauntingly beautiful, but there is more to the work than shifting panels of elusive, impressionistic sound. Debussy retains the text of Maeterlinck’s play, and the linguistic subtleties of the French text are matched perfectly by the musical detail. Taking a little time to explore the romantic, elusive world of this opera is particularly rewarding.