Pelléas et Mélisande

Star conductor Simon Rattle leads a superb cast in this mesmerizing performance of Debussy’s rarely staged opera. Stéphane Degout and Magdalena Kožená are the tragic title couple—lovers caught in a web of passion as strong as it is forbidden. Gerald Finley delivers a remarkable portrayal of Golaud, Mélisande’s husband and Pelléas’s half-brother, and Felicity Palmer is their mother, Geneviève. Willard White brings dramatic and vocal intensity to the brief but crucial role of the blind old king Arkel.