With text provided by symbolist playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, Pelleas & Melisande is more of a sung play than a romantic opera. Rich in passionate arias, excitingly paced duets and thrilling ensembles, Debussy’s single operatic masterpiece demonstrates the composer’s credo as an artist pursuing “dreams and phantoms.” And so, his Pelleas et Melisande exists in the territory of myth, fairytales and the Medieval, further influenced by the mysterious moods of Edgar Allen Poe and the sensuous beauty of the Pre-Raphaelites. Debussy’s bohemian lifestyle in his beloved Paris left him penniless but ardent in his determination to achieve his dramatic and
musical goals.

This Opera Talk with Larry Verdugo will discuss these fascinating influences on the composer, demonstrating their impact on a mysterious work described by some as weird and wonderful, tragic and beautiful.