Track Listings (20) - Disc #1| All Artists: Debussy, Dutoit, Montréal Symphony Orchestra Title: Pelleas Et Melsiande Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Polygram Records Release Date: 4/5/1991 Genre: Classical Style: Opera & Classical Vocal Number of Discs: 2 SwapaCD Credits: 2 UPC: 028943050227 |
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Search - Debussy, Dutoit, Montréal Symphony Orchestra :: Pelleas Et Melsiande
 | Debussy, Dutoit, Montréal Symphony Orchestra Pelleas Et Melsiande Genre: Classical
Among modern recordings of the opera, this one is a safe bet, assuming you want a safe version of this opera. Unlike Herbert von Karajan's oppressively string-heavy reading with the Berlin Philharmonic on EMI, this is a... more » |
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Amazon.com essential recording Among modern recordings of the opera, this one is a safe bet, assuming you want a safe version of this opera. Unlike Herbert von Karajan's oppressively string-heavy reading with the Berlin Philharmonic on EMI, this is a balanced, idiomatic account of the score, given a special luster by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra's coloristic instincts and the warm recording acoustic at St. Eustache Church. Conductor Charles Dutoit has a fine instinctive feel for Debussy in general and this score in particular. The singers in the title roles--Didier Henry and Colette Alloit-Lugaz--have both come to terms with the opera's enigmatic dramaturgy. However, it's very much a symphonic rather than operatic performance, clearly a product of the recording studio rather than of the stage. Nobody completely inhabits the score, though with Debussy, even the sparkling surface is a vehicle of dramatic truth. Thus, any well-meant performance (of which this is certainly one) can never be superficial. --David Patrick Stearns Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsWhat's Everyone's Issue With This Gem Christian Matjias | Ann Arbor, MI | 02/28/2010 (4 out of 5 stars) "As I own nine recordings of this opera, and clearly have my biases as to interpretation and appropriateness of style, I have always been perplexed by the bad rap this recording elicits from listeners. I will admit to loving the Karajan/EMI, Ansermet/OLSR (Stereo), and Boulez DVD recordings; and will pay due tribute and awe to the wartime mono recording with Desormiere. I've also found the Abbado recording somewhat lacking vocally, and the orchestral playing on Jordan and Baudo recordings to be either uneven or poorly captured in the studio. THe Haitink recording, I found quite similar to the later Boulez reading in terms of subtlety and restrained tension. But this Dutoit recording I feel is a lost gem. Yes, it reads more as an orchestral work than an opera, but the singing is fresh and unaffected, and for a generation who may come to opera not through the stage, but through recording, this reading is one of the finest examples of the work. Each character reads so clearly, and when Dutoit and Montreal were on, they were sublime. Not since the Munch / BSO years has this repertoire read so beautifully, and in this recording, Dutiot and cast carry listeners across the rich landscape of Debussy / Maeterlinck's masterpiece as if in a dream. Though 'stronger' vocalists have taken various of these roles over the decades, I feel this cast comes across as a true ensemble (something lacking in the Abbado and Jordan recordings), which makes the experience all the richer. This recording resides in or out of print, depending on the year, so if you find it, I can only recommend that you not let this experience pass you by."
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