3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Debussy for Dummies, April 21, 2011
This review is from: Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
The strange nature of Pelléas et Mélisande and the accordingly strange production staged here for the Opernhaus Zürich in 2004 undoubtedly have much to do with the nature of the source work for the opera, a symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck that relates less to the conventions of narrative cause-and-effect drama, but more to the internal states of the characters being made manifest in the world around them through objects, environments and landscapes. As such Pelléas et Mélisande is not an opera that needs to be tied to any specific period - unless a director specifically wants to make a specific statement - and to tie it to a particular time or place is likely to create social/environmental meanings that may be contrary to the intention of the piece. This means that the opera can either be set in that vague non-time-specific no-man's land that opera does so well, or, rather more controversially, it is open to rather more extreme interpretations. The staging here by Sven-Eric Bechtoff consequently can be seen as being either wilfully bizarre or just perfectly suited to the unusual nature of the opera.
There is more going on between the characters than is evident on the surface, each of them having hidden natures, each of them unable to fully relate to or communicate with one another. As a means of bringing this out, Bechtoff places the characters in some kind of winter fairy-tale kingdom to emphasise the nature of their isolation, while he employs full-size look-alike dummies for each of the characters to act as doubles for them, the characters more often speaking to the dummy counterparts and pushing them around in wheelchairs than relating to the actual people. It all seems rather obvious and it's tempting to see the device as just an expression of how people are puppets being used by others for their own purposes, but that is also too obvious and, in a symbolist work where there is just as much emphasis on objects - hair, rings, towers - it's appropriate that the characters are objects themselves (the split into halves indeed being the original definition of symbolism). In this light, and on a non-rational basis, what appears to be a bizarre conceit proves to be uncannily effective, and when the characters do communicate directly with each other - as opposed to interacting with dummies - it does force you to take more notice of what is being said.
How much you will buy into this depends largely on your tolerance for high-concept modern stagings and how much credence you give to the symbolist movement, since other than perhaps in the film work of Antonioni and his disciples, their style doesn't have a great deal of relevance or influence and is not held in great regard nowadays, certainly not from a literary viewpoint. It's important to note however that the staging is not a distortion of the intentions of the opera on the part of the producers, but rather, if it doesn't adhere to the letter of the work, it is nonetheless perfectly in keeping with the spirit of it, and certainly matches the spirit of Debussy's musical composition. Making use of a revolving stage, the production is certainly effective in its dreamy fluidity, but it's also exceptionally well sung, particularly by Rodney Gilfrey as Pélleas, but Isabel Rey as Mélisande, Michael Volle as Goland and László Polgár as King Arkel are all marvellous. The orchestra playing is superb, particularly in the excellent High Definition sound reproduction on the Blu-ray.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Decepcion, June 28, 2010
This review is from: Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Si bien las interpretaciones de los cantantes y de la orquesta son correctas y bien llevadas la "mise en scene" deja mucho que desear. Escenarios inapropiados, vestuarios completamente neutros e inadecuados y sobre todo movimientos absurdos de los solistas empujando sillas de ruedas con maniquies representandose ellos mismos o a los otros personajes. Se desvirtua totalmente la belleza poetica de la obra de Debussy. La modernidad llevada hasta extremos absurdos. Es decir, fastidio total.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
