Organization

Festival d'Aix en Provence

Lighting designer

James Farnecombe

Revival Director

Gilles Rico

Conductor

Kazushi Ōno

Stage director

Katie Mitchell

Set designer

Lizzie Clachan

Costume designer

Chloe Lamford

James Farncombe

Choreographer

Joseph Alford

Singer

Baritone

Bernard Richter

Pelleas

Soprano

Karen Vourc'h

Melisande

Bass-baritone

Laurent Naouri

Golaud

Bass

Hidekazu Tsumaya

Arkel

Child vocalist

Kanae Kushima

Yniold

Teppei Kono

Doctor

Mezzo-soprano

Rié Hamada

Genevieve

New National Theatre Tokyo

Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa

Others

New National Theatre Chorus

Orchestra

Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra

French

Pelléas et Mélisande -  (Pelléas and Mélisande)

Tokyo

Japan

New National Theatre

Opera Palace

Pelléas et Mélisande Debussy

Public

Private

Pelléas and Mélisande

English

Japanese

Approved

"Pelléas et Mélisande" is the only opera by French impressionist composer Claude Achille DEBUSSY. DEBUSSY strove to produce a uniquely French opera. To this end he both incorporated the leitmotiv technique and, using a unique musical syntax, composed music rich in colour and contrast to express the vitality of nature - light, water, mist and wind - as depicted in the play by Maurice MAETERLINCK. DEBUSSY made the music fuse with the meter of the French language, and used restraint in his depictions of the suffering and rising emotions of the characters on stage for a richly textured portrayal. This tale of love and hatred in an impenetrable fortress is told with mystery, symbolism and an air of tension, the drama cleansed at the end with the serenity of the postlude.
The production is directed by Katie MITCHELL, director of many plays and operas in Britain and highly acclaimed for the sense of reality she achieves with her distinctive sensibilities and rationale. First performed at the 2016 Aix-en-Provence Festival, this production of "Pelléas et Mélisande" is a modern retelling of the drama as the dream of a woman who has come into a household. Conducting is ONO Kazushi, the Artistic Director of Opera of the NNTT. The young lovers Pelléas and Mélisande will be performed by Bernard RICHTER and Karen VOURC'H, both made great success in the roles. Golaud is performed by the veteran French baritone Laurent NAOURI, who also performed in the Aix-de-Provence.

Pelléas and Mélisande by Debussy, From (2022/2022), Directed by Katie Mitchell,, Conductor Kazushi Ōno, New National Theatre, Tokyo, Japan

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Co-Producer

Program, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues