I went into the season premiere of Debussy's
Pelléas et Mélisande imperfectly prepared, but eager; I came out shattered. The
Cambridge handbook to the work
was my cramming resource. The recording I ordered from the NYPL a few weeks ago didn't arrive, so my musical preparation was unfortunately limited to excerpts (and picking out motifs from that invaluable handbook on the piano.) Go
here if you need a quick synopsis. I can't speak to what the musical atmosphere of the opera usually is, what inflections or
tempi are customarily given to the score. Under Sir Simon Rattle, the Met orchestra created a dark tapestry of sound that reflected the piece's changing moods and atmospheres, from claustrophobic caverns (here, scaffolding; still stifling) to mysterious seascapes, while maintaining a sense of tension fueled by the desperate actions of people trying to find their fate (or flee it.) Space was also given for the sounds of silence, through hushed pauses in the music and deliciously drawn out
pianissimi. We heard not only the sounds of the sea, but the sounds of light and darkness, of doubt and desire. Although there were a few rustlers, and what seemed like excessive coughing in the few instances where the curtain was lowered between scenes, the audience seemed to be sensitive to the delicacy and tension of the piece; with an exception for Yniold and Golaud's scene at the window, applause was limited to the intervals, and was not premature.
