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Saturday 25 March 2023
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Los Angeles
California |
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Los Angeles Opera: Pelleas and Melisande
Pelleas and Melisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy and a libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 30 October 1902, and was Debussy’s only opera. The story concerns the love triangle between Pelleas, his wife Melisande and Golaud, Pelleas’ half-brother.
Maeterlinck’s original play Pelleas and Melisande was first performed in Paris in May 1896. Debussy was present at that first performance and was greatly impressed by the play. In 1900, while he was working on the cantata La damoiselle élue, he asked Maeterlinck for permission to set the play to music. Maeterlinck agreed, and in 1901 he and Debussy met to discuss the project. They agreed that the opera would be in five acts, with each act divided into two scenes.
The first performance of Pelleas and Melisande was given at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 30 October 1902. The opera was not a success with the public, and was given only seven performances. The critics were divided in their
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