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Music:Claude Debussy Lyrics:Maurice Maeterlinck .
Libretto in the French language
First performance: April 30,1902 Paris, Opéra- Comique 30 april 1902.
| Roles | Voices |
|---|---|
| Mélisande | soprano |
| Pelléas | tenor |
| Golaud | baritone |
Golaud, one of King Arkel´s grandsons, is walking through a forest when he comes across a mysterious young girl. She is lost and is weeping over the loss of her crown, which she will not let him retrieve from the pool into which it has fallen. After much persuasion, she reveals her name, Mélisande, and agrees to return with him to his castle. Six months pass, during which time the widower Golaud, who already has a son by a previous marriage, marries Mélisande. Golaud writes to his half-brother Pelléas about his new wife, and invites him to visit. His mother Geneviève reads Golaud´s letter to Arkel, who tells Pelléas to accept.
Pelléas and Mélisande are sitting by a fountain.She lowers her long braids into the water and plays with the ring given to her by Goslaud. As a distant clock strikes noon, she drops the ring into the water. At exactly the same time as the ring hits the water, Golaud falls from his horse. While tending to her husband´s wound, Mélisande complains of being miserable in the castle; initially concerned for his wife´s happiness, Golaud is enraged when he sees her ring is missing. He demands she find it, and insists she take Pelléas as an escort. While searching at the well they are frightened by three blind and starving beggars asleep on the ground.
Mélisande is combing her hair at her window;Pelléas persuades her to let it fall into his arms so that he can caress it.Golaud chastites their "childishness" and,taking Pelléas into the castle vault, warns him to stay clear of his wife - who is now pregnant. Later, he uses his son Yniold to spy on Mélisande; Yniold reports that she and Pelléas are merely sitting in silence, but Golaud is nonetheless inflamed by jealousy.
Pelléas has decided to leave, and arranges to meet Mélisande for one final time. Finding them together, Golaud drags his wife away by her hair; Pelléas and Mélisande manage to meet once more and, this time, they confess their love for each other. Listening in the dark is Golaud, who rushes out and kills his half-brother.
Arkel, Golaud and the doctor wait beside Mélisande´s bed where, having given birth to a daughter, she lies dying. Golaud is abject with remorse for the murder of Pelléas but cannot rid himself of his jealousy; in spite of his wife´s condition, he questions her about the nature of her love for Pelléas. She answers that she did nothing wrong, but Golaud does not believe her and he repeats the question. This time, however, she fails to respond; Mélisande is dead.
Adress:http://www.mogensoperasidor.se/pelleasandmelisandeenglish.htm