Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

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Release date: 6th October
LSO0790 | 822231179023

3 SACD Hybrid + Pure Audio Blu-ray | Digibox with carton sleeves
Notes in En, Fr, Ge | French libretto with En translation | 118 page booklet
SACD incl. 2.0 stereo | multi-channel 5.1
Blu-ray incl. 5.1 DTS -HD MA & 2.0 LPCM 24bit 192kHz | w. menu screen & mShuttle downloadable content
Total playing time: approx. 158m

James Mallinson: producer
Classic Sound Ltd: engineering, editing, mixing & mastering
Recorded live in DSD128fs at the Barbican Hall, 9-10th January 2016
The Herald Scotland’s Best Classical Releases of 2017
‘The orchestral playing is intense and full of finesse.’

Opera News’ Critic’s Choice
‘[Rattle] brings immediacy and dramatic vigour…[Finley’s] characterisation is formidable.’

MusicWeb International’s Recording of the Month
‘An exciting, living account of the story and the score, worthy to stand alongside the reading of any conductor.’

Performance: **** Recording: ***** ‘Superb characterisation from the woodwind while the strings seemingly resonate from within – full-bodied one moment, translucent the next… The recorded sound is typically outstanding.’
BBC Music Magazine

***** ‘[Sir Simon] draws the most gorgeous and refined playing.’
The Yorkshire Post

***** ‘[The LSO’s] eloquence is unparalled.’
Diapason

***** ‘The LSO, the ‘Frenchest’ London orchestra, offer a Gallic sound, clear and translucent, successfully translating the richness of Debussy’s musical palette.’
ON-Magazine

**** ‘Rattle’s conducting boasts the expressivity of the opera.’
Pizzicato

**** ‘[This release] is a credit to the LSO’s own record label… Gerald Finley’s composed yet menacing Golaud is superb, and to have Bernarda Fink and Franz-Josef Selig as Geneviève and Arkel is real luxury casting. Under Rattle’s leadership the orchestra is a true protagonist in the drama.’
The Guardian

**** ‘Gerald Finley’s [Golaud is exemplary], and Christian Gerhaher and Magdalena Kožená bring character to Pelléas and Mélisande.’
Financial Times

**** ‘A thrilling vocal performance of a poisonous work taken from Maurice Maeterlinck’s libretto.’
Telerama

**** ‘[The surround sound] is truly outstanding. This is a definite keeper.’
Audiophile Audition

**** ‘Rattle, always at home in French repertoire, elicits delicately shimmering shades of beauty from his new orchestra.’
The Birmingham Post

**** ‘Kozena knows her Mélisande, Gerhaher [excels], Finley and Selig are admirable from start to finish.’
Classica

’An early jewel in the crown of Simon Rattle’s assumption of the principal conductorship of the LSO.’
Gramophone

‘[Sir Simon’s] stewardship is key to the success of this reading… Finley’s Golaud is an outstanding achievement… The orchestral playing is excellent, the recording clear and immersive.’
BBC Radio 3 Record Review

‘A phenomenal interpretation… The SACD sounds incredibly good.’
Opus Klassiek

’How it should be, how [Debussy] would have imagined it.’
BR Klassik

‘A confirmation of Britain’s blissful affinity with French romanticism.’
Classique News

‘A tonally luxurious performance with kaleidoscopically-vibrant colours.’
Opernwelt

‘An exceptionally lyrical Pelléas.’
OPER! Das Magazin

£19.99

Sir Simon Rattle,
London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle leads an all-star cast in this highly anticipated new recording of Debussy’s evocative opera Pelléas et Mélisande. It was captured in January 2016 during performances of an innovative collaboration between Rattle and Peter Sellars, two of the boldest creative minds in music and theatre today.

The plot, a love triangle between Prince Golaud, his wife Mélisande and his brother Pelléas, is shrouded in mystery and full of gripping twists and emotion-filled turns, ultimately ending in Pelléas’ untimely death. The sensuous score contains some of Debussy’s most exquisite music and perfectly crystalises the atmosphere of Maeterlinck’s original play.

Composer		Debussy
Conductor		Sir Simon Rattle
Performers		London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus
Soloists		Magdalena Kožená, Christian Gerhaher, Gerald Finley, Bernarda Fink, Franz-Josef Selig, Joshua Bloom, Elias Madlër

Track list

Acte 1, Scène 1, Une forêt -

1. "Je ne pourrais plus sortir"
2. "Pourquoi pleures-toi?"
3. Interlude

Acte 1, Scène 2, Un appartement dans le château -

4. "Voici ce qu'il écrit à son frère"
5. "Qu'en dites-vous?"
6. Interlude

Acte 1, Scène 3, Devant le château -

7. "Il fait sombre dans les jardins"
8. "Hoé hisse Hoé!"

Acte 2, Scène 1, Une fontaine dans le parc -

9. "Vous ne savez pas où je vous ai menée ?"
10. "C'est au bord d'une fontaine"
11. Interlude

Acte 2, Scène 2, Un appartement dans le château -

12. "Ah! Ah! Tout va bien"
13. "Tiens, Où est l’anneau que je t’avais donné"
14. Interlude

Acte 2 Scène 3, Devant une grotte -

15. "Oui; c'est ici nous y sommes"

Acte 3, Scène 1, Une des tours du château -

16. "Mes longs cheveux descendent"
17. "Je les tiens dans le mains"
18. "Que faites-vous ici?"

Acte 3, Scène 2, Les souterrains du château -

19. "Prenez garde, par ici"

Acte 3, Scène 3, Une terrasse au sortir des souterrains -

20. "Ah, je respire en fin!"
21. Interlude

Acte 3, Scène 4, Devant le château -

22. "Viens, nous allons nous asseoir ici"
23. "Qu'ils s'embrassent, petit père?"

Acte 4, Scène 1, Un appartement dans le château -

24. "Où vas-tu?"

Acte 4, Scène 2 -

25. "Maintenant que le père de Pelléas"
26. "Pelléas part ce soir"
27. "Ne mettez pas ainsi votre main à la gorge"
28. Interlude

Acte 4, Scène 3, Une fontaine dans le parc -

29. "Oh! Cette pierre est lourde"

Acte 4, Scène 4 -

30. "C'est le dernier soir"
31. "Nous sommes venus ici il y a bien longtemps"
32. "On dirait que ta voix"
33. "Quel est ce bruit?"

Acte 5, Scène 1, Une chambre dans le château -

34. "Ce n'est pas de cette petite blessure"
35. "Attention, je crois qu'elle s'éveille"
36. "Mélisande, as-tu pitié de moi?"
37. "Non, non nous n'avons pas été coupables"
38. "Qu'avez-vous fait?"
39. "Qu'y a-t-il?"
40. "Attention… attention!"