PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE

The opera Pelléas et Mélisande, world premiere in 1902 in Paris, is based on the eponymous play by Flemish symbolist Maurice Maeterlinck, a tragically ending fairy-tale love triangle surrounding the stepbrothers Golaud and Pelléas and the mysterious Mélisande loved by both. For him the external plot is not the core of the drama, says Maeterlinck – for him is far more about trying to, “go deeper into the human consciousness.” The model for this is Allemonde Castle, a grim, oppressive place without light. The actual plot remains vague, so in his opera Claude Debussy also plumbs psychological depths and topicalises subliminal emotional processes. His music is always “reticent”, approaching silence again and again. The composition dazzles in the most diverse colours, which subtly illuminate the characters. Pelléas et Mélisande is a tragedy of the inner self, enigmatic, morbid, deeply sad and full of beauty. Appearing for the first time at the Bayerische Staatsoper with this production, Dutch director Jetske Mijnssen directs.

Dutch director Jetske Mijnssen directs at opera houses throughout Europe. Her work focuses on the psychological penetration of the characters, based on an intensive study of the music. Her most recent productions include Idomeneo, Orlando paladino (Joseph Haydn) and Hippolyte et Aricie (Jean-Philippe Rameau) at Zurich Opera House, Eugen Onegin and Don Carlo at Graz Opera, L'Orfeo (Claudio Monteverdi) at Kongelige Opera Copenhagen, Katja Kabanowa at Komische Oper Berlin and Maria Stuarda (Gaetano Donizetti) at De Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam. She has a long-standing collaboration with the stage and costume designer Ben Baur. Musical director Hannu Lintu, chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and the Orquestra Gulbenkian in Lisbon, makes his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper with Pelléas et Mélisande.