Pelléas et Mélisande

James Levine’s affection for Debussy’s masterful score creates a performance rich in orchestral and vocal colors, with all the subtle emotional shifts of the drama vividly brought to life. The magnificent Frederica von Stade is Mélisande, in a production staged for her 25th Met anniversary. Victor Braun and Dwayne Croft are half-brothers Golaud and Pelléas—one Mélisande’s husband, the other her lover. Marilyn Horne brings her sumptuous voice to the role of Geneviève, Pelléas and Golaud’s mother, and Robert Lloyd is heartbreaking as the blind old king Arkel.