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Claude Debussy’s lyrical aspirations leaned toward Symbolism and paved the way for a new symbiosis between orchestra and voice. A close friend of the poets of his time, he drew inspiration from Stéphane Mallarmé for his Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894). Debussy found the qualities of intimacy and the supernatural he was seeking in Maurice Maeterlinck’s fascinating play Pelléas et Mélisande. From it he drew his only completed opera – that premiered at the Opéra-Comique de Paris in 1902 – which is also a unique lyrical work in musical history. The voices seem to speak-sing a sentimental, mysterious unspoken truth, while the orchestra acts as a storyteller and conduit for the Unconscious.
Mélisande, her song and her hair flowing down to the foot of the tower where Pelléas awaits her… In an atmosphere of melancholic dreaminess, set amid an enchanted forest, a vast, empty palace shrouded in sea mist shelters a trio of lovers whose identities remain obscure; despite the weight of fate, they still seek the light, the sky – and love. “Music is made for the inexpressible. I want music to seem to rise from the shadows and indeed sometimes return to them”, wrote Debussy.
Following her nuanced and sensitive interpretation of Mitridate, Emmanuelle Bastet continues exploring the unfathomable mysteries of the human psyche, this time drawing inspiration from the films of Alfred Hitchcock and his irresistible heroines… She will be joined by French conductor Laurent Campellone, leading the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.
Premiere on April 30, 1902, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris
Casa Ricordi Editions, Milano
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne
Opéra de Lausanne Choir
Choir Director Guillaume Rault
After studying music and philosophy, Laurent Campellone won first prize in the European Community’s international competition for young conductors in 2001. Appointed Music Director of the Saint-Étienne Opera and Symphony Orchestra in 2004, for more than ten years he spearheaded a policy to rediscover the 19th century French lyrical repertoire, conducting rare works by Massenet (Sapho, Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame, Ariane, Le Mage), Gounod (La Reine de Saba, Polyeucte), and Lalo (Le Roi d’Ys), Saint-Saëns (Les Barbares). He was invited to conduct the French Romantic repertoire, comic opera and the great opera repertoire at the Bolshoi, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the operas of Marseille, Toulon, Nantes, Angers, Bordeaux, Bogotá, Madison, as well as at the Berlioz and La Chaise-Dieu festivals. He also performs in concert with the Bavarian Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Orchestres nationaux du Capitole de Toulouse et des Pays de la Loire, the Orchestres philharmoniques de Nice, de Radio France, de Malaisie. His recording “Offenbach colorature” won the 2019 Diapason d’or prize and was awarded a Diamant by Opéra Magazine, a Choc by Classica and is included in the Gramophone magazine selection. Since September 2020, Laurent Campellone has been the General Director of the Opéra de Tours, where he has recreated Grétry’s La Caravane du Caire, in collaboration with the Opéra Royal de Versailles. At the Opéra Comique, he conducted Les Mousquetaires au Couvent, Fantasio and Madame Favart.
At the Opéra de Lausanne : Werther (2022)