Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
I. Background. Introduction to Claude Debussy 0:00
II. The influence of Wagner and atonality 4:05
III. Debussy's childhood and development 7:20
IV. Maurice Maeterlinck 13:10
Act I
Scene 1. A forest. While out hunting, King Arkel’s grandson Golaud comes across the lovely Mélisande, weeping by a well. She finally tells him her name, but can only manage a confused account of her origins. She agrees to accompany Golaud and marry him.
Scene 2. A room in King Arkel’s castle. Geneviève, mother of the half-brothers Golaud and Pelléas, reads Arkel a letter from Golaud in which he requests that his bride is welcomed. He will come with her in three days’ time, and look for a lamp to be lit which will signify Arkel’s acceptance of her. Arkel agrees that it will be lit.
Scene 3. A stormy evening outside the castle. Pelléas greets Golaud and Mélisande, and Golaud asks him to accompany Mélisande while he himself goes to find his son. Mélisande expresses a sadness that Pelléas plans to go away.
V. The story and opening 18:00
VI. Golaud encounters Melisande 23:30
VII. King Arkel's acceptance and the entrance of Pelleas 28:35
Act II
Scene 1. A well in the castle grounds. Pelléas and Mélisande are by the well whose magic powers are said to cure the blind. Mélisande plays with her wedding ring and it falls down into the water. ‘The ring is lost,’ she remarks.
Scene 2. A room in the castle. Golaud has been wounded while out hunting, and is now tended by Mélisande. She expresses a feeling of foreboding, to which Golaud is sympathetic; but then he notices that the wedding ring is missing. She says that she lost it in a cave on the seashore, and he insists that she go to find it at once, taking Pelléas with her.
Scene 3. The cave. Pelléas and Mélisande enter the cave. They see three beggars lying on the ground and Pelléas decides not to disturb them. Mélisande is frightened, but resists Pelléas’s offer of a helping hand.
VIII. Pelleas and Melisande together 34:20
IX. Golaud lies ill 39:00
Act III
Scene 1. The castle tower. Mélisande has let down her long hair and sings at the window. As Pelléas goes by, Mélisande leans out and he is engulfed in hair. Golaud appears and reprimands them for behaving like children.
Scene 2. The castle vault. Golaud takes Pelléas down to the stagnant water, where he may ‘smell the stench of death’. They leave hurriedly.
Scene 3. Outside the vault. Golaud tells his brother that he must stay away from Mélisande.
Scene 4. Outside the castle. Golaud uses his child Yniold as a spy: he lifts him up to the window of a room where Pelléas and Mélisande are gazing silently at the light and asks him what they are doing. The child replies, then bursts into tears.
X. Melisande at the window and Golaud's suspicion 44:15
XI. Golaud uses Yniold 50:30
Act IV
Scene 1. Pelléas has decided to leave, and he arranges to meet Mélisande for the last time by the well.
Scene 2. Arkel enters with Mélisande. He sees her as the agent of renewed happiness, but he has watched and pitied her, as she seems to be waiting for something dreadful. Golaud then enters, furious with Mélisande. He seizes her by her hair, forcing her to her knees, and insults her. Arkel remarks, ‘If I were God, I would have pity on the hearts of men.’
Scene 3. By the well. Yniold has lost a golden ball and comes out to find it.
Scene 4. By the well. Pelléas and Mélisande declare their love for one another and embrace for the first and last time. Golaud rushes on the scene and kills his brother with a sword.
XII. Pelleas to depart; Arkel and Melisande; Golaud's anger 55:15
XIII. Yniold's scene; the love duet 1:01:10
XIV. Pelleas: 'We have broken the ice with red hot irons' 1:05:55
Act V 1:12:00
A room in the castle. Mélisande is dying after giving birth to a daughter. Golaud is full of remorse, but when alone with her succumbs to the urge to interrogate her once again, asking her if she betrayed him. But he learns nothing. She gazes sorrowfully at their child and dies. Arkel urges that she should be left in peace.
Mélisande - Mireille Delunsch, soprano
Pelléas, Arkel’s grandson - Gérard Théruel, baritone
Golaud, Arkel’s grandson - Armand Arapian, baritone
Arkel, King of Allemonde - Gabriel Bacquier, bass
Geneviève, mother of Pelléas and Golaud - Hélène Jossoud, mezzo-soprano
Yniold, Golaud’s son - Françoise Golfier, soprano
Le médecin, Le berger - Jean-Jacques Doumène, bass
Choeur Régional Nord/Pas-de-Calais with Eric Deltour, chorus-master
Orchestre National de Lille-Région Nord/Pas-de-Calais with Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor
I. Background. Introduction to Claude Debussy 0:00
II. The influence of Wagner and atonality 4:05
III. Debussy's childhood and development 7:20
IV. Maurice Maeterlinck 13:10
Act I
Scene 1. A forest. While out hunting, King Arkel’s grandson Golaud comes across the lovely Mélisande, weeping by a well. She finally tells him her name, but can only manage a confused account of her origins. She agrees to accompany Golaud and marry him.
Scene 2. A room in King Arkel’s castle. Geneviève, mother of the half-brothers Golaud and Pelléas, reads Arkel a letter from Golaud in which he requests that his bride is welcomed. He will come with her in three days’ time, and look for a lamp to be lit which will signify Arkel’s acceptance of her. Arkel agrees that it will be lit.
Scene 3. A stormy evening outside the castle. Pelléas greets Golaud and Mélisande, and Golaud asks him to accompany Mélisande while he himself goes to find his son. Mélisande expresses a sadness that Pelléas plans to go away.
V. The story and opening 18:00
VI. Golaud encounters Melisande 23:30
VII. King Arkel's acceptance and the entrance of Pelleas 28:35
Act II
Scene 1. A well in the castle grounds. Pelléas and Mélisande are by the well whose magic powers are said to cure the blind. Mélisande plays with her wedding ring and it falls down into the water. ‘The ring is lost,’ she remarks.
Scene 2. A room in the castle. Golaud has been wounded while out hunting, and is now tended by Mélisande. She expresses a feeling of foreboding, to which Golaud is sympathetic; but then he notices that the wedding ring is missing. She says that she lost it in a cave on the seashore, and he insists that she go to find it at once, taking Pelléas with her.
Scene 3. The cave. Pelléas and Mélisande enter the cave. They see three beggars lying on the ground and Pelléas decides not to disturb them. Mélisande is frightened, but resists Pelléas’s offer of a helping hand.
VIII. Pelleas and Melisande together 34:20
IX. Golaud lies ill 39:00
Act III
Scene 1. The castle tower. Mélisande has let down her long hair and sings at the window. As Pelléas goes by, Mélisande leans out and he is engulfed in hair. Golaud appears and reprimands them for behaving like children.
Scene 2. The castle vault. Golaud takes Pelléas down to the stagnant water, where he may ‘smell the stench of death’. They leave hurriedly.
Scene 3. Outside the vault. Golaud tells his brother that he must stay away from Mélisande.
Scene 4. Outside the castle. Golaud uses his child Yniold as a spy: he lifts him up to the window of a room where Pelléas and Mélisande are gazing silently at the light and asks him what they are doing. The child replies, then bursts into tears.
X. Melisande at the window and Golaud's suspicion 44:15
XI. Golaud uses Yniold 50:30
Act IV
Scene 1. Pelléas has decided to leave, and he arranges to meet Mélisande for the last time by the well.
Scene 2. Arkel enters with Mélisande. He sees her as the agent of renewed happiness, but he has watched and pitied her, as she seems to be waiting for something dreadful. Golaud then enters, furious with Mélisande. He seizes her by her hair, forcing her to her knees, and insults her. Arkel remarks, ‘If I were God, I would have pity on the hearts of men.’
Scene 3. By the well. Yniold has lost a golden ball and comes out to find it.
Scene 4. By the well. Pelléas and Mélisande declare their love for one another and embrace for the first and last time. Golaud rushes on the scene and kills his brother with a sword.
XII. Pelleas to depart; Arkel and Melisande; Golaud's anger 55:15
XIII. Yniold's scene; the love duet 1:01:10
XIV. Pelleas: 'We have broken the ice with red hot irons' 1:05:55
Act V 1:12:00
A room in the castle. Mélisande is dying after giving birth to a daughter. Golaud is full of remorse, but when alone with her succumbs to the urge to interrogate her once again, asking her if she betrayed him. But he learns nothing. She gazes sorrowfully at their child and dies. Arkel urges that she should be left in peace.
Mélisande - Mireille Delunsch, soprano
Pelléas, Arkel’s grandson - Gérard Théruel, baritone
Golaud, Arkel’s grandson - Armand Arapian, baritone
Arkel, King of Allemonde - Gabriel Bacquier, bass
Geneviève, mother of Pelléas and Golaud - Hélène Jossoud, mezzo-soprano
Yniold, Golaud’s son - Françoise Golfier, soprano
Le médecin, Le berger - Jean-Jacques Doumène, bass
Choeur Régional Nord/Pas-de-Calais with Eric Deltour, chorus-master
Orchestre National de Lille-Région Nord/Pas-de-Calais with Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor
