Pelléas and Melisande - Libretto

8/10/2019 Pellas and Melisande - Libretto

1/87

PELLASANDMLISANDE

Debussy

English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra

Mark Elder


2/87

Lebre

chtMusic&ArtsPhotoLibrary

ACHILLECLAUD

EDEBUSSY


3/87

3

Achille-Claude Debussy(1862 1918)

Pellas and Mlisande Opera in five acts and fifeen scenes afer the play by Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 1949) Adapted by the composer English translation by Hugh Macdonald

Arkel, King o Allemonde John Tomlinsonbass Genevive , mother o Pellas and Golaud Sarah Walkermezzo-soprano Pellas, grandson o King Arkel Robert Deanbaritone Golaud, grandson o King Arkel Neil Howlettbaritone Mlisande Eilene Hannansoprano Yniold, son o Golaud by his first marriage Rosanne Brackenridgesoprano Doctor Sean Reabass Shepherd(off-stage) Sean Reabass Sailors (off-stage), Ser ving Women (mute)

English National Opera Chorus

English National Opera Orchestra

Mark Elder


4/87

4

COMPAC DISC ONE ime Page

Act I 28:19

Scene 11 [Introduction] 2:14 [p. 34]2 I shall never find my way out o this orest 5:25 [p. 34]

Golaud, Mlisande3 I am Prince Golaud, grandson o old Arkel,

King o Allemonde 4:15 [p. 35]

Golaud, Mlisande

Scene 24 Tis is what he has written to his brother Pellas 3:47 [p. 37]

Genevive, Arkel5 All this perhaps may move us strangely 2:58 [p. 37]

Arkel, Genevive6 Whos that? Who has come in? 2:59 [p. 38]

Arkel, Genevive , Pellas

Scene 37 Te gardens seem enshrouded in night 6:39 [p. 38]

Mlisande, Genevive, Pellas, Sailors


5/87

5

ime Page

Act II 25:54

Scene 18 I wonder i you know where I have brought you 3:39 [p. 40]

Pellas, Mlisande9 Was it also by a spring that he ound you? 3:59 [p. 41]

Pellas, Mlisande

Scene 210 Ah, ah! All is well, its nothing serious 2:56 [p. 43] Golaud, Mlisande11 Im I am not very well 10:21 [p. 44] Mlisande, Golaud

Scene 312 Yes, this is it, we are here 4:56 [p. 46] Pellas, Mlisande TT 54:24


6/87

6

COMPAC DISC WO ime Page

Act III 36:10

Scene 11 My hairs so long 5:51 [p. 48]

Mlisande, Pellas2 Oh, oh! Whats this? 5:18 [p. 50]

Pellas, Mlisande3 What are you doing here? 3:38 [p. 51]

Golaud, Pellas

Scene 24 Be careul. Follow me, ollow me 4:02 [p. 51]

Golaud, Pellas

Scene 35 Ah, at last I can breathe! 2:53 [p. 52]

Pellas, Golaud6 Speaking o Mlisande, I overheard what passed between you 2:55 [p. 52]

Golaud


7/87

77

ime Page

Scene 47 Come, lets sit down here together, Yniold 6:52 [ p. 53]

Golaud, Yniold

8 Oh look! Mama has lighted the lamp in her window 4:35 [p. 55] Yniold, Golaud TT 36:10

COMPAC DISC HREE

Act IV 36:55

Scene 11 Where are you going? 3:14 [p. 58]

Pellas, Mlisande

Scene 22 Now that Pellass ather has recovered 6:25 [p. 59]

Arkel, Mlisande


8/87


9/87

9

ime Page

9 What is that noise? Teyre closing the gates! 1:46 [p. 65] Pellas, Mlisande10 Tere is someone here, just behind us 2:43 [p. 65] Mlisande, Pellas

Act V 26:1111 It would not be rom such a little wound as this 7:56 [p. 67] Doctor, Arkel, Golaud, Mlisande12 Mlisande! Mlisande! 6:57 [p. 68] Golaud, Mlisande13 What have you done? You will kill her, Golaud 2:56 [p. 70] Arkel, Golaud, Mlisande14 What is this? What are all these women doing here? 4:51 [p. 71] Golaud, Doctor, Arkel15 What is that? 4:29 [p. 72] Arkel, Doctor, Golaud TT 64:15


10/87

Sir Peter Moores with a portrait o Admiral Lord Nelsonby Lemuel Francis Abbott, acquired or Compton Verney

Lyndon Parker

Can Debussys operatic masterpiece be sung in English and preserveits quintessential French character? We believe so. Listen to HughMacdonalds superb translation, captured here in a live BB C broadcastrom the London Coliseum in November 1981, with a fine castconducted by Mark Elder at the helm o English National Operaorces. We are proud to be adding this historic recording oPellas

and Mlisandeto our Opera in English Archive may it provide resh

insights to newcomers andaficionadosalike.

Sir Peter Moores, CBE, DLJanuary 2012


11/87

11


12/87

12

Clive

Barda/ArenaPAL

EILEN

EHANNAN


13/87

13

Clive

Barda/ArenaPAL

RO

BERTDEAN


14/87

14

Debussy: Pellas and Mlisande

An introductionTe works universally recognised as the twinmasterpieces o Claude Debussy (1862 1918),the tiny orchestral jewelPrlude laprs-mididun auneand the ull-length operaPellaset Mlisande, were composed back-to-back inthe years 1892 95, when he was in his earlythirties. O the eighty (or so) compositionswhich preceded them, ew have enjoyed muchavour, and the attempts which he made to

complete an opera had all r un into the sand. Hehad considered a variety o topics and made anumber o alse starts, and he had completeda very substantial part oRodrigue et Chimne,on the basis o CorneillesLe Cid, when heencountered the very different world o thesymbolist dramas o Maurice Maeterlinck(1862 1949), a discovery which condemnedthe unfinishedRodrigue et Chimneto thebottom drawer. His conviction that he had atlast ound the material he was looking or isconfirmed by a remarkable conversation withErnest Guiraud, which Maurice Emmanuel

recorded as having taken place in 1889:I imagine a kind of drama quite different fromWagners, in which music would begin where

the words are powerless as an expressive force.

Music is made for the inexpressible; I would like

it to seem to emerge from the shadows and go

back into them from time to time, and it should

always be discreet.

Debussy went on to define his ideal collaboratoras a poet who suggests things demi; indeedit would be hard to name any writer whoseinclinations were so well matched to Debussy svision as Maeterlinck. Debussy may have read

Maeterlincks playPellas et Mlisandewhenit was published in 1892; he certainly saw itstaged in Paris in May 1893, an occa sion whichprompted him to approach Maeterlinck to seekhis permission to set it as an opera.

In September 1893, as soon as the Prlude laprs-midi dun fauneand one or twosmaller works had been completed, Debussybegan work, and finished the opera two yearslater. In 1898 it was accepted by the Opra-Comique, a house that had recently developeda much more elevated repertoire than its namesuggests, and after some delays and hold-ups

it was staged there in 1902. As Debussy hadsketched the orchestral colouring of this mostdelicate of scores from the beginning, the


15/87

15

This paradox is embodied in his relationshipto Wagner, whose music he deeply admired

while distancing himself in many importantparticulars. From Wagner Debussy adopted thecentral role of the orchestra and the avoidanceof vocal melody, also a continuous musicaltexture and a network of motives. Some ofthe Wagnerian features of the opera werealready present in Maeterlincks play, notablythe world of remote kings, princesses, forests,and castles, the theme of jealousy and a stolenbride resembling that of Tristan und Isolde.

Where Wagner provided potent symbols such

as swords, spears, ravens, swans, rainbows,and potions, Maeterlinck preferred the moredecadent suggestions of decay, blindness, andignorance wells, springs, water, gates, stones,and sheep used, often crudely, to suggesta world in which no one can see, let alonecontrol, his own destiny.

It is often supposed that Debussy setMaeterlincks play almost word for word.This is far from the truth, as whole scenes areomitted and nearly every scene that he keptis shortened at least a little. Debussy avoidedthose scenes that would traditionally have

been treated with an operatic chorus, andthese happen also to be the scenes in whichMaeterlinck laid on the symbolism in rather

full score was left until the very last minuteand was completed at great speed. The firstperformance was a momentous event, as it

was clear to many that this opera steppedboldly across many conventional barriers andbelonged decisively to the new century; many,equally, regarded it as a horrible monster anda portent of worse horrors yet to come. Aboveall, it was what the French most passionatelyadore, a cause, an issue, an artistic event thatdemands to be discussed and criticised andthat compels all cultivated persons to declarethemselvespour ou contre.

Despite many projects and ideas, Debussywas never able to complete another opera. Inthis respect (if in no other) Pellas et Mlisandeis sometimes compared to BeethovensFidelio.Each opera was the much-loved only childof a doting creator who put so much into itsmaking that there could be no second childto follow after. Debussy tried harder thanBeethoven to produce a second opera, butnever found the subject or the inspiration hesought.

The roots of Debussys art were rich andcomplex, drawing on many strands of musical,

literary, and artistic experience. Few composershave been so deeply indebted to the pastand at the same time so original as Debussy.


16/87

16

of the audience, as operas in foreign languagesinevitably sound elaborate and poetic (as mostof them in fact are).

For Debussy this simple language wasideal, as opera can never do justice to poeticelaboration anyway, and as he particularlystrove for understatement as an escape from

Wagnerian hyperbole and as a potent dramaticdevice. He also had in mind a new kind ofvocal writing derived not from Wagner butfrom Mussorgsky. In his ideological and almostobsessive quest for stage realism, Mussorgskyhad independently discovered the benefits of

setting prose. Debussy was reported not to haveshown much interest in Boris Godunovwhen he

was lent a copy of the score in 1889. ButPellaset Mlisandesuggests strongly either that he tookmore interest in it than he admitted or that hehad absorbed prevalent ideas on vocal writingduring his Russian visits in 1881 and 1882.

The vocal writing shows none of thedeclamatory excesses of Italian opera, nor eventhe lyrical shapeliness of Gounod, Bizet, andMassenet. Instead, Debussy treats the wordsmuch more as plain speech. The emphasis is onstress and phrase patterns, on clarity of diction,

and on a naturalness aided by the completelack of motivic or thematic shape in the vocalline. The words should never be drowned

too generous helpings: the women desperatelytrying to scrub the floor clean, for example(this could be imagined as a gloomy openingchorus perhaps), or the porters not being ableto open the gates. The most unusual stepDebussy took as he planned the opera was notto seek the services of a professional librettistto adapt and versify the drama for him. Hesaw that there was visionary force in settingthis play, with its highly unpoetic prosedialogue, without adapting its language tosuit operatic traditions and without destroyingits inherently musical character.

Where Maeterlinck departed most rad icallyfrom his fellow symbolists and from Wagner

was in his style of language. Instead ofalliterated consonants, obscure fantasticvocabulary, ornate syntax, and suggestive orarchaic poetic conceits, he avoided all fancifullanguage and wrote in the plainest prose.Most of the characters in Pellas et Mlisandespeak to each other like children; everythingthey say is, on the surface, transparentlyclear. Yet questions either elicit the wrongreply or no reply at all, and the ordinarinessof the language only deepens the obscurity

of what it all means. This dimension of theopera, incidentally, can only be properlyappreciated when it is sung in the language


17/87

17

Golaud, the tenderness of Pellas, the childlikeinnocence of Mlisande, or the deluded

wisdom of Arkel. We should be searchingfor the meaning of their strange amputatedutterances, whether in the words or in themusic. It is certainly all replete with meaning,but what that meaning is, no critic and nolistener can readily or convincingly say.

2012 Hugh Macdonald

Synopsis

COMPAC DISC ONE

Act I

Scene 11 - 2 Golaud has lost his way while out hunting

in the orest. He hears a g irl weeping by a springand approaches her, but she is rightened anddistressed, unable to tell him why she is there,although she does tell him her name, Mlisande.

3 He is a grandson o King Arkel, he tells her.Reluctantly she lets him lead her away.

Scene 2A room in the castle. 4 - 5 Genevive,Golauds mother, is reading to old Arkel a letter

by the orchestra; no words are repeated andno syllables are set to more than one note.Debussy must have known that by avoidinglyrical singing he imposed on himself a severerestriction which would have consigned himto oblivion had he not drawn out of himself,at the most propitious moment of his career,a fount of invention that commands attentionand admiration throughout. French criticshad always been merciless to composers whomthey judged to be lacking in melody. Debussy

walked boldly and brazenly into that veryhornets nest and came out unscathed.

Pellas et Mlisandeis the largest work he everwrote, and it came into existence at the mostadvantageous point of his comet-like career.Its first performance in 1902 symbolises itsstanding at the junction of two centuries. Itgrandly surveys a complex tradition of Frenchopera which had always been intensely literaryin character, and it transformed at a strokethe most potent operatic force of the age, the

work of Wagner. At the same time it openedup a new musical language which was toserve as an excuse for all kinds of far-reachingdevelopments in our own time. Of course,

none of this need concern us very much whenwe listen to the opera or see it in the theatre; weshould be more preoccupied with the rage of


18/87

18

but Mlisande stops him. A clock strikes noon.Pellas takes her back, deciding that they shouldtell Golaud the truth.

Scene 2A room in the castle. 10 Golaud has had anaccident while out hunting. It happened atnoon. Mlisande is at his bedside. 11 Sheconesses that she is not happy, but when hequestions her, she cannot say why. He takes herhand and notices that her ring is missing. Shetells him that she lost it in a cave near the sea.He insists angrily that she go at once to find it,

taking Pellas with her i necessar y.

Scene 312 Pellas and Mlisande have gone down to acave by the sea to look or the ring, though theyknow that it is not there. Tey see three beggarslying asleep in the cave and hurry away.

COMPAC DISC WO

Act III

Scene 11 Mlisande is sitting at the window o one othe castle towers and singing to hersel as she

rom Golaud. It is addressed to Pellas, his hal-brother. Golaud has married Mlisande, thoughhe still knows nothing about her. He plansto bring her back and seeks his grandathersapproval, which is given. Genevive mentionsthat Golaud is devoted to his son, Yniold.

6 Pellas comes in, asking i he may visit adying riend. Arkel reminds him that his ather(whom we do not see) is also dying.

Scene 3Beore the castle. 7 Golaud and Mlisandehave returned. Genevive is showing Mlisande

the gardens as night alls. Pellas joins them. Astorm is gathering and they watch a ship dealingwith the rough sea. Genevive goes to look aferYniold, leaving Pellas to escor t Mlisande back.

Act II

Scene 18 Pellas has brought Mlisande to the park

to visit the Blind Mans Well. She gazes intothe water and her hair touches its surac e.

9 Pellas asks her about her first meeting with

Golaud but learns nothing. She starts playingwith her wedding ring, throwing it up in the air.It alls in the water. Pellas is ready to retrieve it,


19/87

19

innocent answers o the child, Golaud presses himto reveal more. 8 Mlisande lights a lamp in herwindow. He lifs him up to the window to reportwhat he sees. Pellas and Mlisande are inside butapparently sitting in silence. Golaud, enraged,drags the child away.

COMPAC DISC HREE

Act IV

Scene 1

A room in the castle.1

Pellas asks Mlisande tomeet him that evening at the Blind Mans Well, ashe has to leave shortly. His ather has recovered.

Scene 22 Pellas goes out and Arkel enters, speaking

o the bright uture that now awaits them all. Heembraces Mlisande. 3 Golaud enters, with ascratch on his head. When Mlisande moves toattend to him he repulses her violently. Arkelprotests her innocence, 4 but Golaud seizes herby the hair and hurls her to the floor.

Scene 35 Yniold is playing in the park. His ball isstuck under a rock which he cannot lif. He can

combs her long hair. Pellas comes past in abright mood. He admires her hair and gets herto lean out and let it all loose. He tells her thathe has to leave next day, which distresses her.

2 Pellas becomes ecstatically entwined in herhair. She entreats him to let go, but her hair iscaught in a branch. 3 Golaud walks by andupbraids them or playing like children, leadingPellas away.

Scene 24 Golaud has brought Pellas down into the

dark subterranean vaults o the ca stle, but

Pellas is horrified and they leave.

Scene 35 Tey emerge into the light on a

terrace o the castle. Pellas eels rereshed.6 Golaud reminds him that the sort o scene

which he witnessed the night beore must nothappen again, especially as Mlisande is nowexpecting a child. He asks Pellas to keep awayrom her, though not too obviously.

Scene 47 Golaud is playing with Yniold outside

Mlisandes window. Golaud questions the boyabout what he has seen when Mlisande andPellas have been together. Frustrated by the


20/87

20

others come back, and he tells them that hethinks he has caused her death. Her baby isbrought in, a daughter. 14 Servants fill the room.Golaud again gives in to guilt. 15 Mlisande dieswith the baby in her arms.

2012 Hugh Macdonald

A note on the translationAlthough many people think oPellas etMlisandeas prooundly French in character,the opera lends itsel particularly well totranslation as the libretto, adapted rom

Maeterlincks play, is in prose and as Debussyparticu larly avoided writing conventionaltunes. Being prose, the text has neither rhymenor metre, and the vocal writing is close tospeech. A translation must thereore aimto reproduce the conversational, unpoetic,essentially plain tone o the original even i adifferent number o syllables is ofen requiredin English in comparison with the same line inFrench. In writing this translation or singing,thereore, I have tried as ar as possible toimagine that Debussy was setting the words inEnglish, even i that meant being more aithul

to the libretto than to the music. 2012 Hugh Macdonald

hear sheep bleating and he watches them. Whenthey all silent he as ks the shepherd why, only tobe told that they are not going to the sheepold.

Scene 46 - 8 Pellas awaits Mlisande by the well.

He almost wishes that he could leave withoutseeing her again. When she comes he explainsthat he will have to leave her, but nonetheless hesuddenly kisses her, telling her that he loves her.I love you too, she conesses. 9 Tey hear thecastle gates closing and know that they cannotgo back in; 10 then they hear ootsteps and know

that Golaud is near. Teir love scene rises to apassionate climax as Golaud steps out rom thebushes and strikes Pellas dead with his sword.Mlisande runs off in terror.

Act VA room in the castle. 11 A doctor reports thatMlisande is slightly hurt but not in any danger.12 Golaud is overcome by guilt. Mlisande wakesbut speaks to Arkel in an incoherent ashion.Golaud asks the others to leave and approach esher to ask her org iveness. He is anxious to knowi she loved Pellas. Yes, she says, innocently.Was it a guilty love? he a sks. No, she replies,although Golaud does not believe her. 13 Te


21/87

21

Coppelius, Dr Miracle, and Dapertutto(Les Contes dHoffmann), Golaud andArkel (Pellas et Mlisande), Borisimoeyevich Ismailov (Lady Macbeth o theMtsensk District), Boris and Pimen (BorisGodunov), the General (Te Gambler), Tomas Becket (PizzettisAssassinio nella cattedral e),and the Minotaur (world premiere oBirtwistles Te Minotaur). He has sung a largeconcert repertoire with all the leading Britishorchestras, throughout continental Europe,and in the USA, and has made numerousrecordings on CD and DVD. During the

2011 / 12 season John omlinson singsPogner (Die Meistersinger on Nrnberg)at Te Royal Opera, Covent Garden,Baron Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier) at EnglishNational Opera, Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlos)at De Nederlandse Opera, Arkel at Graneatre de Liceu, Barcelona, and Bluebeard on aEuropean tour. He was awarded a CBE in 1997and knighted in the Queens Birthday Honourso 2005. For Chandos Opera in English hehas recorded important roles in Boris Godunov(Highlights),Julius Caesar,Mary Stuart,Der Rosenkavalier(Highlights),Rigoletto,Werther, Te Flying Dutchman, Te MagicFlute,Bluebeards Castle, andDon Carlos, aswell as two disc s o operatic ari as.

Born in Lancashire, thebassJohn Tomlinson(Arkel) gained a B.Sc.in Civil Engineering atManchester Universitybeore winning ascholarship to the RoyalManchester Collegeo Music. He has sungregularly with English

National Opera since 1974 and with Te RoyalOpera, Covent Garden since 1977, and hasappeared with all the other leading British

opera companies. At the Bayreuth Festival, oreighteen consecutive seasons, he sang Wotan,Wanderer, Hagen, iturel, Gurnemanz , KingMarke, Heinrich, and the Dutchman. Atestivals and opera houses all over Europe andthe USA he has perormed a repertoire thatincludes Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger onNrnberg), Landgra (annhuser), Baron Ochs(Der Rosenkavalier), Boromeo (Palestrina),Orestes (Elektra), Moses (Moses und Aron),Green Knight (world premiere o Sir HarrisonBirtwistles Gawain and the Green Knight),Claggart (Billy Budd), Rocco (Fidelio),King Philip and Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlos),Sarastro (Die Zauberflte), Leporello andCommendatore (Don Giovanni), Lindor,


22/87

22

appearances at the Last Night o the Proms, andsang in Beethovens Ninth Symphony underLeonard Bernstein at the opening o the BerlinWall at Christmas in 1989. Her greatest lovehas always been song and the overwhelmingsuccess o her Wigmore Hall debut establishedher as a recitalist o supreme excellence, whosewide repertoire and artistry are reflected innumerous recordings. Sarah Walker was amongthe first perormers to set up a web presence,at sarahwalker.com, and has now moved ontoFacebook, Youube, SoundCloud, and otherplatorms. She was appointed CBE in 1991.

Te proessional singingcareer o the baritoneRobert Dean(Pellas)spanned the years1979 87, during whichtime he sang principalroles with EnglishNational Opera, TeRoyal Opera, CoventGarden, Opera North,

Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne FestivalOpera, and Scottish Opera where his finalstage role was Figaro in Te Barber o Seville.He sang regularly at the Batignano Festivalwhich is also where he started his proessional

Te mezzo-sopranoSarah Walker(Genevive) beganher musical lie as aviolinist and cellist atthe Royal College oMusic in London andsubsequently studiedwith the celebratedHungarian voice

teacher Vera Rzsa, with whom she built up anextraordinarily wide repertoire ranging romBach to Berio and beyond. Since her debut at

Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Diana / Giovein Cavallis Calisto, she has appeared atTe Royal Opera, Covent Garden, TeMetropolitan Opera, New York, eatro allaScala, Milan, Wiener Staatsoper, and otheropera houses all over the world. Among morethan seventy roles in her repertoire are Didon,Klytemnstra, Donna Elvira, Katisha, MistressQuickly, numerous Handel and Monteverdiheroines, and the title role in Brittens Gloriana.Much in demand on the concert platormworldwide, she has worked with conductorssuch as Sir Georg Solti, Carlos Kleiber, Sir RogerNorrington, Sir Simon Rattle, and BernardHaitink. She was a brilliant Britannia, withher two unorgettable Union-Flag-draped

AlfArmbrust,Hamburg


23/87

23

companies in Italy,France, Norway,South America, andthe USA, as well aswith the Engli shOpera Group (underBenjamin Britten),Welsh National Opera,Scottish Opera, andEnglish National Opera

where he was a leadi ng baritone or seventeenyears. His repertoire o more than n inety rolesnotably includes Scarpia (osca), Iago (Otello),

Macbeth, Boccanegra, Renato (Un ballo inmaschera), Amortas (Parsial), Golaud, Wotan(Der Ring des Nibelungen), Count Almaviva(Le nozze di Figaro), and Jochanaan (Salome).Neil Howlett was a proessor at the GuildhallSchool o Music and Drama rom 1974 to 1992,when he was appointed Head o Vocal Studiesat the Royal Northern College o Music, laterbecoming Director o Repertoire Studies. Inrecent years he has received critical acclaim orhis p erormances as Wotan / Wanderer, whichhave led to lectures, articles, and master-classeson Wagner. His research into historical singingpractice has resulted in numerous articles whichcan be ound on his website (www.neilhowlett.com). His discography includes recordings o

conducting career. Tis has now seen himconduct the Philharmonia Orchestra, RoyalPhilharmonic Orchestra, City o LondonSinonia, and London Mozart Players, amongother ensembles. He returned to Scottish Operaas Head o Music, serving rom 1989 to 1993and conducting a wide-ranging repertoire. Everyseason or the last twenty years he has conductedproductions at opera companies in NorthAmerica, as well as appearing in the UK andcontinental Europe. He was Artistic Directoro the Philharmonia Chorus or ten years and ismuch in demand as a voice teacher. Robert De an

is a Proessor o Voice at the Guildhall School oMusic and Drama and so ar our o his pupilshave been prize winners at the prestigiousKathleen Ferrier Competition in which, at thestart o his singing career, he was himsel twicea finalist.

Te baritone Neil Howlett(Golaud) won theKathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship whileat the University o Cambridge and thereaferstudied in Vienna, Milan, and Stuttgart. Havingbeen contracted in Bremen, he subsequentlymade his debut at Te Royal Op era, CoventGarden in 1970, singing Silvio (Pagliacci).During a long and successul internationalcareer he has a lso perormed with opera

FotodeRota,Trieste


24/87

24

Award), and Emma (Richard Millss Summero the Seventeenth Doll). She has also touredAustralia as Mother Abbess (Te Sound oMusic). Eilene Hannan has worked with suchconductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir CharlesMackerras, Sir Mark Elder, Pierre Boulez,and Richard Bonynge, and with the directorsJohn Copley, John B ell, David Pountney, PeterSellars, Harry Kuper, Neil Armfield, andNicholas Hytner. Her well-known passion orand experience o singing in English has led toengagements not only with Opera Australiabut also with Victorian Opera. She has

established a reputation or her contributionto music teaching through ma ster-classes,coaching, and adjudicating, and is a recognisedEnglish and French language coach. For herservices to opera she has been made a Membero the Order o Australia.

Te soprano Rosanne Brackenridge(Yniold)has enjoyed a successul career with ScottishOpera, Geneva Opera, and English NationalOpera, having appeared at the LondonColiseum, Royal Albert Hall, and MetropolitanOpera, New York. She has been extensivelyinvolved with the project Music in Hospitals;invited to join the audition panel seekingmusicians to take part in this challenging and

Les Vpres siciliennes,Le Rossignol, and, orChandos Opera in English, Iago in VerdisOtello.

Recognised or hergreat versatility, thedistinguished Australiansoprano EileneHannan(Mlisande)has perormed in themajor opera houses,concert halls, andrecital venues o Great

Britain, continentalEurope, and Australia. At the opening o theSydney Opera House she sang Natasha (Warand Peace), a role she repeated in London andat Te Metropolitan Opera in New York. Inher international career she has sung Rusalka,Pamina, Susanna, Cherubino, Dorabella,Zerlina, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Mim,atyana, Mlisande, Micala, Blanche (Dialoguesdes Carmlites), Lela, Kta Kabanov, Jena,Vixen, Eboli, Pat Nixon (Nixon in China),Governess (Te urn o the Screw), Sieglinde,Venus, Marzelline, Oscar, Salome (Hrodiade),and Poppea. She has appeared with OperaAustralia in roles as diverse as the Marschallin,Governess (or which she won a Green Room

AmandaWatkins


25/87

25

has since appeared at Glyndebourne FestivalOpera, Welsh National Opera, Te RoyalOpera, Covent Garden, Opera North, andseveral opera houses abroad, in a repertoirethat includes Superintendent Budd (AlbertHerring), Pietro (Simon Boccanegra),Peneios (Daphne), Pimen (Boris Godunov),Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Sarastro(Die Zauberflte), Narbal (Les royens), andPrince Gremin (Eugene Onegin). From 1980to 1984 he was a principal bass with EnglishNational Opera, singing the Helmsman(ristan and Isolde), Monterone and Sparaucile

(Rigoletto), the Cardinal (Rienzi), the King(Aida), and Pogner (Te Mastersingers oNuremberg), among other roles. Also enjoyingthe lighter side o things, he has sung lead rolesin musicals such asKismet, South Pacific, andTe Sound o Music, and many light musicprogramme s or the BBC. Sea n Rea has h adconsiderable success as a voice teacher, andhas been Artistic Director o Island Operain the Isle o Man, Musical Director o thechoir Cantonelle in Carlisle, and, since 2006,Musical Director o Kircudbright ChoralSociety.

Te English National Opera Chorusis oneo the finest proessional operatic ensembles in

rewarding work, shehas perormed withthe programme all overScotland, reaching as aras the Orkney Islands.She now works or theNational Youth Choiro Scotland, bringingmusic lessons based onthe method o Zoltn

Kodly to young children in Glasgow. Aspart o the extens ive training th at the Choirprovides, she wil l soon return to Hungar y or

a second study week. Kodly believed that thesmaller the child, the more easily it learns, theless it orgets, and Rosanne Brackenridge isproud to be spreading the joy o music to ver yyoung children, includi ng babies.

Born in Surrey, the bassSean Rea(Doctor andShepherd) studied atthe Guildhall School oMusic and Drama, andmade his proessionaldebut in 1976, singingPistol (Falstaff)or Glyndebourneouring Opera. He

ThePictureBox

SylviaJenks


26/87

26

At the heart o the companys artistic lie,the English National Opera Orchestrahasin recent years received several prestigiousawards. As well as giving opera perormancesat the London Coliseum, the Orchestra hasalso appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival andat Glastonbury. It is closely involved in ENOEvolve, an initiative led by Edward Gardner,the companys Music Director, in whichstudents rom the Royal College o Musicshadow players rom the Orchestra. Many othe players participate in the work o ENOBaylis, the companys learning and par ticipation

team; among other initiatives they perormin its Op era Squad, taking the companyswork to schools in the London Boroughs oWestminster and Enfield. Te Orchestras recentdiscography includes recordings o Kate RoyalsCDMidsummer Night(2009), conducted byEdward Gardner, and, as part o Chandos Operain English, BergsLulu(2006) and PoulencsTe Carmelites(2006), both conducted by PaulDaniel, and Janeks Te Makropulos Case(2007), conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Music Director o the Hall, Mark Elderenjoys close associations with the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra, Te Royal Opera,Covent Garden, and the Orchestra o the Age

the UK today. racing its roots to the oundingo the Sadlers Wells Opera Company by LilianBaylis in 1931, the Chorus is c ommitted tobringing opera sung in English to the widestpossible audiences in thrilling and theatricallyinventive productions. It plays a key role inthe company ensemble and has enjoyed recentnotable successes in major new productionsoAida,Billy Budd, Cavalleria rusticanaandPagliacci,Death in Venice,Doctor Atomic,Jena,Peter Grimes, Satyagraha, urandot,A Dogs Heart, Te Damnation o Faust, andHandelsMessiah, as well as in the widely

acclaimed revival oParsialin2011. It hasalso perormed at the Aldeburgh Festival, theBarbican, and in Barcelona, and was invited bySir Charles Mackerras to sing in Gilbert andSullivansPatienceat the BBC Proms in 2009.Te large discography o the English NationalOpera Chorus includes, or Chandos Operain English recordings o Te CarmelitesandTe Makropulos Case, among many others.Te Chorus was actively involved in EnglishNational Operas g roundbreaking live broadcastsoLa bohmeandLucrezia Borgiaor SkyArts.Members o the Chorus regularly perormprincipal roles in company productions andparticipate in the work o ENO Baylis, thecompanys learning and participation team.


27/87

27

In the recent past and near future hehas been engaged to conduct the Bostonand Chicago Symphony orchestras,Berlin, Munich, and NetherlandsRadio Philharmonic orchestras, RoyalConcertgebouw Orchestra, Russian NationalOrchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic,Budapest Festival Orchestra, GothenburgSymphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-OrchesterZrich, Grzenich-Orchester Kln,

Austra lian Youth Orchestr a, LondonPhilharmonic and London Symphonyorchestras, Britten Sinfonia, and Orchestra

of the Age of Enlightenment. Sir MarkElder was awarded the CBE in 1989,knighted in 2008, and in May 2006 wasnamed Conductor of the Year by theRoyal Philharmonic Society. He receivedGramophoneAwards in 2009, 2010, and 2011for his Hall recordings of Gtterdmmerung,The Dream of Gerontius, The Kingdom, andElgars Violin Concerto. In April 2011, hetook up the position of Artistic Director ofOpera Rara with which he is planning severalrecording projects over the next five years.

o Enlightenment. Hewas Music Director oEnglish National Operarom 1979 to 1993and has been PrincipalGuest Conductor othe BBC SymphonyOrchestra and Cityo BirminghamSymphony Orchestra.

For many years he has appeared annually atthe BBC Proms in London, twice conductingthe internationally televised Last Night o the

Proms. He has been a regular guest in manyo the most prominent international operahouses, including Te Metropolitan Opera,New York and the Opra national de Paris,and was the first British conductor to conducta new production at the Bayreuth Festival. Herecently conductedKing Rogerat the BregenzFestival, Billy Buddat Glyndebourne FestivalOpera, productions o several operas at CoventGarden, including Te sars Bride,Fidelio,andAdriana Lecouvreur, andDie WalkreandGtterdmmerungin concert with the Hall.

SheilaRock


28/87

28

Clive

Barda/ArenaPAL

NEILHOWLETT

&EILENEHANNAN


29/87

29

CliveB

arda/ArenaPAL

EILENEHANNAN&

JOHNTOMLINSON


30/87

3030

Te British philanthropist Sir Peter Moores established the Peter Moores Foundation in1964. Trough the Foundation he has disbursed millions o pounds to a wide variety o arts,environmental, social, and educational causes to get things done and open doors or people.

Te story behind Opera in English, the award-winning label launched in 1995 by Chandosand the Peter Moores Foundation, goes back more than orty years to the moment when PeterMoores was bowled over by the impact o hearing Reginald Goodall conduct Te Valkyrie, sung

in English at the London Coliseum. He determined to get the whole EnglishRingrecordedor a wider audience and or uture generations. A linguist himsel, Sir Peter recognised,nevertheless, that nothing speaks to the heart so directly as hearing the drama o operaexpressed in your own language. Encouraging the first-time listener to give opera a go has beena key element in building the Opera in English catalogue, hence the emphasis on recordingmainstream repertoire with a roster o great artists who relish communicating the English text.oday the Opera in English catalogue orms the largest collection in the world o operas sung inEnglish translation.

It was his passion or o pera that drove Sir Peter to begin his philanthropic work: in his twentieshe helped a number o young artists in the crucial, early stages o their careers, including the thenrelatively unknown Joan Sutherland and Colin Davis. Afer he established the Peter MooresFoundation, many more young singers were supported through scholarships and bursaries, severalachieving international recognition, including Barry Banks, Alice Coote, Simon Keenlyside,Mary Plazas, Amanda Roocrof, an d oby Spence.

In live music perormance, the Foundation has encouraged the creation o new work and schemes toattract new audiences, financed the publication o scores, especially or world premieres o modernoperas, and enabled rarely heard works to be staged by British opera companies and estivals. It hasalso enabled Opera Rara to record rare bel cantorepertoire which would otherwise have remainedinaccessible to the g eneral public. For urther inormation about Sir Peter and his Foundations

work, including initiatives in business studies at the University o Oxord, and the establishment oCompton Verney Art Gallery in Warwickshire, visit www.pm.org.uk

Sir Peter Moores was born in Lancashire and educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxord.He was a student at the Vienna Academy o Music, where he produced the Austrian premiere oBenjamin Brittens Te Rape o Lucretia, and at the same time was an assistant producer with theVienna State Opera, working with Viennese artists in Naples, Geneva, and Rome, beore returningto England in 1957 to join his athers business, Littlewoods. He was Vice-Chairman o Littlewoodsin 1976, Chairman rom 1977 to 1980, and remained a director until 1993.

He received the Gold Medal o the Italian Republic in 1974, an Honorary MA rom ChristChurch, Oxord in 1975, and was made an Honorary Member o the Royal Northern College oMusic in 1985. In 1992 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant o Lancashire by HM the Queen.He was appointed CBE in 1991 and received a Knighthood in 2003 or his charitable servicesto the arts. In July 2008 he received the Stauffer Medal, the highest award o Germanys Baden-

Wrttemberg Province. He received Honorary Doctorates o Literature rom the University o theWest Indies in 2008 and the University o Warwick in 2011.


31/87

Clive

Barda/ArenaPAL

EILE

NEHANNAN

&ROBERTDEAN


32/87

33

Clive

Barda/ArenaPAL

EILE

NEHANNAN

&ROBERTDEAN


33/87

34

COMPAC DISC ONE

Act I

Scene 1A orest. As the curtain rises Mlisande is discoveredby the edge o a well. Enter Golaud.

1 [Introduction]

Golaud2 I shall never find my way out o this

orest. Heaven knows how ar this animal has ledme. I had the impression it was mortally wounded.Yes, here are traces o b lood. But the beast itsel

is nowhere to be seen; indeed I ear I have lostmy way, and my hounds will never find me here. Imust try to retrace my steps. Someones weeping?Oh, oh! Who is that beside the spring? Is that agirl there weeping by the water?(He coughs.)She has not heard me. I cannot see her ace.(He approaches Mlisande and touches her shoulder.)Why are you weeping?(Mlisande trembles, starts, and is about to runaway.)Dont be araid. You have nothing to ear. Why areyou weeping here, all alone?

Mlisande

Dont touch me! Dont touch me!

GolaudDont be araid. I will do you no harm. Oh, you areso beautiul!

MlisandeDont touch me! Dont touch me! Or I shall throwmysel in the water!

GolaudI shall not touch you. You see, I will stay whereI am by this tree. Dont be araid. Has someonewronged you?

MlisandeOh yes, yes, yes!

(She sobs deeply.)

Golaudell me, who has done you wrong?

MlisandeEveryone! Everyone!

GolaudAnd what wrong have they done?

MlisandeI dont want to tell you, I cannot tell you.


34/87

35

GolaudCome, come! Dont stay here weeping like this.Where is your home?

MlisandeIve run away, away, away!

GolaudYes, but where have you run away rom?

MlisandeI am lost, lost! Oh, oh! Yes, I am lost. Tis is notmy home. I was not born here.

Golaud

Where are you rom? Where do you come rom?

MlisandeOh, oh! Far rom here, ar ar

GolaudWhat is that glittering there down in the water?

MlisandeOh where? Ah! It is the crown that he g ave me. Itell in as I was weeping.

GolaudA crown? But who was it gave you a crown? Ill seei I can reach it.

MlisandeNo, no! I dont want it! I dont want it! I wouldmuch rather die die now at once!

GolaudI could easily reach down and get it out. Te wateris not very deep.

MlisandeI dont want it! I you get it I would throw myselin!

GolaudNo, no, I will leave it alone. And yet I c ould reachit without any trouble. It looks very beautiul. Was

it long ago that you ran away?

MlisandeYes. Yes. Who are you?

Golaud3 I am Prince Golaud, grandson o old

Arkel, King o Allemonde.

MlisandeOh, your hair is already turning grey.

GolaudYes, a little, just here by the temples


35/87

36

GolaudWould you like to come with me?

MlisandeNo, no, Ill stay here.

GolaudYou cannot stay here all a lone in the orest, youcannot stay here alone in the wood all night. Whatis your name?

MlisandeMlisande.

Golaud

You cannot stay here alone, Mlisande. Come withme.

MlisandeIll stay here.

GolaudYoull be araid all alone here. You never knowwhat may happen all night long all alone here.It is not possible, Mlisande. Come now, give meyour hand.

MlisandeOh, dont touch me!

Mlisande

And your beard as well. Why do you look at melike that?

GolaudIts your eyes I am looking at. Do you never closeyour eyes?

MlisandeYes, yes, I close them at night.

GolaudWhy do you look so bewildered?

Mlisande

You are a giant!

GolaudI am a man like any other.

MlisandeWhy did you come here?

GolaudI have no idea. I was hunting in the orest and Iwas ollowing a boar. Ten I lost my way. You seemvery young. How old are you?

MlisandeIm eeling cold.


36/87

37

ready or my return. I know my mother will gladlyand reely orgive me. But I ear Arkel, despite hisloving heart. But i he consents to welcome her asi she were his own daughter, on the third eveningafer you get this letter, light a lantern at the top othe tower that looks over the sea. I shall see it romthe bridge o my ship. I not, I shall sail on andnever return. What do you say ?

ArkelI can say nothing.

5 All this perhaps may move us strangely,because we only ever see the underside o ate, Imean the underside o our ate Until now he hasalways ollowed my advice. I thought I would make

him happy when I sent him to see the hand o theprincess Ursule. He could not be alone, and sincethe death o his wie it made him sad to be alone;this marriage would have put an end to long warand to longstanding hatred. He would not have itso. Let it be as he wishes. I have never stood in theway o destiny. He knows his own uture betterthan I. Perhaps in this world nothing ever occurswithout purpose.

GeneviveHe was always so thoughtul, so serious andresolute. Yet since the death o his wie he has livedonly or his son, little Yniold. Everything else heneglects. What can we do?

(Enter Pellas.)

Golaud

Dont be alarmed. I shall leave you alone. But comewith me! Te night will be very dark and very cold.Come with me

MlisandeWhere are you going?

GolaudI do not know. I too am lost.

(Tey go out.)

Scene 2

A room in the castle. Arkel and Genevive arediscovered.

Genevive4 Tis is what he has written to his brother Pellas:

One evening I ound her in tears by the side o aspring, in the orest where Id lost my way. I knowneither her age nor who she is, nor where shecomes rom, and I dare not ask her, or she musthave suffered some terrible misortune. And i youask her what happened, she bursts into tears like achild and starts sobbing so bitterly that one earsor her. It is now six months since I made her mywie, yet I know nothing more than I knew theday that I ound her. Meanwhile, my dear Pellas,

whom I love more than a brother, even though weare not sons o the same ather, have everything


37/87

38

Genevive

See that the lantern is lit this evening, Pellas.

(Tey go out separately.)

Scene 3Beore the castle. Enter Genevive and Mlisande.

Mlisande7 Te gardens seem enshrouded in night. And

such orest, such orest all round the castle!

GeneviveYes, I too was struck by that when I first came here.

It astonishes everyone who comes here. Tere areplaces here where you never see the sun. But youquickly get used to it. It is now many years, verymany years, it is now nearly orty years I have livedhere. Look over there, on the other side, youll g etthe light rom the sea.

MlisandeI hear a sound somewhere below us.

GeneviveYes, that is someone coming up here. Ah, itsPellas. Perhaps he is tired afer waiting or youso long.

MlisandeHe hasnt seen us.

Arkel6 Whos that? Who has come in?

GeneviveIts Pellas. He has been weeping.

ArkelIs that you, Pellas? Come closer into the l ight sothat I can see you.

PellasGrandather, I received at the same time as theletter rom my brother another letter, a letter rommy riend Marcellus. He is on the point o deathand he has sent or me. He says he knows exactly

the day that death will come. And he says I couldbe there in time to see him, i I wish; he says I haveno time to lose.

ArkelIt would be well to wait a little time, however. Wehave no notion yet how your brothers return mayaffect us. And besides, is your ather not here, inthis very castle, closer to death perhaps than yourriend? Can you make a choice between yourather and your riend?

(He goes out.)


38/87

39

Pellas

Soon perhaps the mist will slowly clear away.

MlisandeYes, down there in the distance I can see a aintlight I had not seen beore.

PellasIts a beacon; there are several others still out osight in the mist.

MlisandeNow the ship has moved into the light. Shesalready ar out.

PellasUnder way in ull sail

MlisandeTat is the ship that brought me here. Te shipwith big sails. I recognise her by her sails.

PellasShe will have stormy weather tonight.

MlisandeWhy set sail on such a rough night? She is almostout o sight. Perhaps shell be shipwrecked!

Pellas

Te night is alling ast.

Genevive

I think he has, but do esnt know what he shoulddo. Pellas, Pellas, is that you?

PellasYes! I was going in search o the sea .

GeneviveSo were we; we came here or the light. For herethe light is brighter than elsewhere, and yet the seais dark.

PellasA storm is gathering or tonight; there has beenone every night or several days and yet the sea is

very calm this evening. One could easily put out tosea without knowing and never return.

Sailors(off-stage)Howay! Howay! Heave ho! etc.

MlisandeSomethings putting out to sea.

PellasIt must be quite a large ship, or her lights are veryhigh. We will see her in a minute, as soon as shesails into the next patch o l ight.

Genevive

I do not think well be able to see her. Teres still amist hanging over the sea.


39/87

40

Act II

Scene 1A well in the park. Enter Pellas and Mlisande.

Pellas8 I wonder i you know where I have brought

you. I ofen come and sit here in the middle o theday, when its too hot in the garden. Even underthe trees today the air is stifling.

MlisandeOh, what clear water!

Pellas

Te waters clear and cool as winter. Its an oldand disused well. Tey say this was a well withmiraculous powers. It would open the eyes o theblind. It is called to this day the Blind Mans Well.

MlisandeDoes it no longer open the eyes o the blind?

PellasSince the king has become almost b lind himsel,no one comes here.

MlisandeHow silent it is Were all alone.

Genevive

It is time to go back . Pellas, show Mlisande theway. I have to go and look afer little Yniold.

(She goes out.)

PellasNothing more can be seen out there.

MlisandeI can see some other lights.

PellasTey are the other beacons. Can you hear the sea?Te wind is getting up. Well go down by this path.

Shall I hold your hand?MlisandeBut look! You see my hands are holding theseflowers.

PellasIll take you by the arm, the path is very steepand its dark all around us. Im leaving tomorrowmaybe.

MlisandeOh, why are you leaving?

(Tey go out.)

End o Act I


40/87

41

Pellas

Oh, oh! Be careul! Do be careul! Mlisande,Mlisande! Oh, look at your hair!

Mlisande(sitting up)I cant, I cant reach it.

PellasYour hair has allen in the well.

MlisandeYes, its longer than my arms, its even longer thanI am

Pellas9

Was it also by a spring that he ound you?MlisandeYes.

PellasWhat did he say?

MlisandeNothing. I dont remember.

PellasDid he come close?

Mlisande

Yes, he wanted to kiss me.

Pellas

Tis place is always unbelievably silent. One couldhear the water sleeping. Would you like to sit hereon the edge o the marble? Here is a linden treewhere the sun never shines

MlisandeI shall lie down on the marble. I want to see thebottom o the well.

PellasNo one has ever seen it. Perhaps it is as deep asthe sea.

Mlisande

I something bright were shining down there,perhaps one might see it.

PellasDont lean over like that!

MlisandeI want to touch the water.

Pellasake care not to slip. Let me hold your hand.

MlisandeNo, no, I want to dip both my hands in. Itsstrange, today my hands dont seem very well


41/87

42

Mlisande

Oh!

PellasIts allen in!

MlisandeIts allen in the well!

PellasWhere is it? Where is it?

MlisandeI didnt see it sinking

PellasI think I can see it!

MlisandeMy ring?

PellasYes, yes, down there!

MlisandeOh, oh! Its so ar away! No, no, thats not it, thatsnot my ring. My ring has gone, Ive lost it. Only acircle remains on the water. What are we going todo now?

Pellas

You didnt want him to?

MlisandeNo.

PellasWhy didnt you want him to?

MlisandeOh, oh! I can see something moving at the bottomo the well!

PellasBe careul, do be careul! Youll all in! Whats that

youre playing with?MlisandeIts the ring he gave me.

PellasDont play with it like that, not over such deepwater!

MlisandeYou see, my hands are steady.

PellasIt sparkles in the sun. Dont throw it so high inthe air!


42/87

43

happened. I was hunting unconcerned in the

orest. Suddenly my horse just bolted or noreason. Could it have seen something unusual? Justbeore, Id heard the clock strike the twelve strokeso noon, when on the last stroke, it took suddenright and ran like a blind idiot into a tree! I canremember no more afer that. I ell down, and myhorse must have allen on top o me; my chest eltas though the whole orest had allen upon me. Myheart elt as though it had broken in two. But myheart is robust. I am sure its nothing serious.

MlisandeMay I give you some water?

GolaudNo thank you, I am not thirsty.

MlisandeMay I give you another pillow? Teres a little spoto blood on this one?

GolaudNo, theres no need to change it.

MlisandeAre you sure? I hope youre not in pain.

GolaudNo, this is not the first time. I am made o iron

and blood.

Pellas

Teres no need to be distressed in this way overa ring. Its nothing, perhaps well recover it. Wemight recover another one instead.

MlisandeNo, no, well never recover it, we shant find anyother ones either. I thought I had it saely in myhands. I had already closed my hands. Even so, itell in. I threw it up too high, up into the sun.

PellasNow come, well come b ack some other day. Comeon, we must go. Teyll be coming to find us. Teclock struck twelve as the ring ell into the well

MlisandeWhat shall we tell Golaud i he asks where it is?

PellasTe truth, the truth.

(Tey go out.)

Scene 2A room in the castle. Golaud is discovered lying onhis bed; Mlisande is at the bedside.

Golaud10

Ah, ah! All is well, its nothing serious. ButI am unable to explain how this could have


43/87

44

Golaud

Ten you must be conceal ing something rom me.ell me plainly, tell me the truth, Mlisande. Is itthe king? Is it my mother? Is it Pellas?

MlisandeNo, no, it is not Pellas. It isnt anyone. You cannotunderstand me. It is something stronger than I

GolaudCome on, let us be reasonable, Mlisande. Whatdo you want me to do? You are no longer a child. Isit me you would like to be rid o?

MlisandeOh no, its not that. I would like to go away with

you. Its here that I cant live any longer. I eel that Iwill not live much longer.

GolaudBut there must be a reason or it. It will seem anact o madness. Tey will think it is all childishdreams. Lets see, is it Pellas perhaps? I have notseen him speaking to you much.

MlisandeYes, he speaks to me sometimes. I dont believe helikes me; I can see by his eyes. But he speaks to mewhenever he sees me.

Mlisande

Close your eyes and try to sleep. I shall be herebeside you all night.

GolaudNo, no, I do not want you to weary yoursel in thatway. Teres nothing more I need. I will sleep likea child. What is it, Mlisande? What brings thesetears to your eyes?

Mlisande(weeping)11 Im I am not very well.

GolaudYou are not well ? What is it? What is it,Mlisande?

MlisandeI dont know I am not very well. I would ratheryou knew today. My lord, Im not happy here.

GolaudBut what can have happened? Has someone doneyou wrong? Has someone been offensive to you?

MlisandeNo, no, no one has done me any wrong at all. Itsnot that.


44/87

45

And then next year Come on, give me your hand,

give me both your l ittle hands.(He takes her hands.)Oh, these little hands! I could crush them just asi as i they were flowers! What! Why is the ringthat I gave you not here?

MlisandeTe ring?

GolaudYes, your wedding ring. Where is it ?

MlisandeI think I think it must have allen off.

GolaudFallen off? Where can it have allen? I hope youhavent lost it.

MlisandeNo, it has allen off, it must have allen off. But Iknow where it is.

GolaudWhere is it?

MlisandeYou know the place You know the place Youknow the cave by the sea?

Golaud

You must not take offence at that. He has alwaysbeen like that. He is rather unusual. He willchange, youll see. He is young still.

MlisandeBut it isnt that, no it isnt that

GolaudTen what is it? Can you not live the kind o liethat we lead here? Is it too desolate here? It is truethat the castle is ancient and gloomy. It is verydark and cold, and the people who live here arealready old. And the country can seem desolatetoo, with these orests all around, al l these ancientorests closed to the daylight. Yet all this could bebrighter i anyone wants. And yet contentment,contentment One cannot have that every day.But come, tell me something, no matter what. Iwill do whatever you wish.

MlisandeYes, its true. No one ever sees the daylight here. Isaw it or the first time today.

GolaudWould it be that which makes you weep, my poorMlisande? Is it just that? You weep because younever see the sky? Come on, you are too old toweep about a thing like that. Do you think the

summer is not here? You will see the sky every day.


45/87

46

Mlisande

Im araid Im araid to go alone there.

GolaudGo now! ake someone i you like, but go! So longas you go this moment, understand? You must bequick. Go and see i Pellas will go with you.

MlisandePellas? Go with Pellas? But Pellas wont wantto go.

GolaudPellas will do anything you ask him. I knowPellas better than you. But go, go at once! I shallnot sleep until I have that ring back.

MlisandeOh, oh! Im so unhappy, Im so unhappy!

(She goes out weeping.)

Scene 3Beore a cave. Enter Pellas and Mlisande.

Pellas(speaking with great agitation)12 Yes, this is it, we are here. Its so dark that the

entrance to the cave is indistinguishable romthe night. Tere are no stars to b e seen in the sky.

I we wait till the moon has broken through theclouds it will shed lig ht ar into the cave and then

Golaud

Yes.

MlisandeIts there, its there, it must be there. Yes, yes, nowI remember. I went down there this morning togather up some seashells or little Yniold. Tere aresome lovely ones there. It slipped rom my finger.But the tide was rising, so I had to go beore I wasable to find it.

GolaudAre you certain it is there?

MlisandeYes, yes, I am certain. I elt it slip off.

GolaudTen you must go and find it immediately.

MlisandeGo there now? Immediately? In the dark?

GolaudGo there now! Immediately, in the dark! I wouldpreer to lose everything I possess rather than losethat ring. You do not know what it is. You do notknow where it came rom. Te tide will be veryhigh tonight. Te sea will probably get there beoreyou, you must be quick.


46/87

47

Pellas

What is it?

MlisandeOver there over there!

(She points to the three beggars.)

PellasYes, I can see them too.

MlisandeLets go out! Lets go out!

PellasTey are some old beggars who have a llen asleep.Teres a amine in the land. Why have they comein here to sleep?

MlisandeLets go out! Come, lets go out!

PellasBe careul, dont speak so loudly We must notwake them up. Tey are still sound asleep. Comeon.

MlisandeLet me be; I would rather go alone.

we can enter in saety. Tere are dangerous places

along here or the path is very narrow and it windsbetween two lakes o unathomable depth. I neverremembered, we should have brought a torch withus, or a lantern. But perhaps we can see by thelight o the sky. Have you never be en into this cavebeore?

MlisandeNo

PellasLets go in. You must be able to describe the placewhere you lost the ring in case he should ask you.It is both large and beautiul. It is ull o deep blueshadows. I you light a candle inside the cave it isas though the roo were covered with stars, as i itwere the sky. Let me hold your hand. You needntbe araid, theres no danger at all. Well go nourther the moment we no longer see the light othe sea. Is it the noise o the cave you are araid o?Listen, can you hear the sea behind us? It seems tobe unhappy tonight. Oh, here is the light!

(Te moon throws a flood o light into the entranceand the interior o the cave, and reveals three white-haired beggars sitting side by side and holding oneanother up as they sleep, leaning against a boulder.)

Mlisande

Ah!


47/87


48/87

49

Mlisande

Ten you promise to stay?

PellasI shall wait, I shall wait.

MlisandeI can see a rose down there in the darkness.

PellasA rose? I can see nothing but the willow hangingthere over the wall.

MlisandeFurther down, urther down in the g arden, overthere where the shadows dark and green

PellasBut thats not a rose there I will look in amoment, but give me your hand first, first yourhand!

MlisandeTere you are, there you are! I cant lean out anyurther.

PellasLean urther! I still cant reach your hand withmy lips.

Mlisande

I look so plain like this

PellasOh, oh, Mlisande! Oh, you are beautiul!Beautiul like that! Lean out, yes, lean out! Let mecome a little nearer to you.

MlisandeI cant reach down any nearer to you. Im leaningout as ar as I can.

PellasI cannot climb any higher. Let me hold your handat least tonight beore I go away. omorrow I leave.

MlisandeNo, no, no!

PellasYes, yes, I must. omorrow I must go. Let metouch your hand, your hand, let me touch yourhand with my lips

MlisandeI shall not let you touch my hand i you go

PellasLet me, let me, let me


49/87

50

Mlisande

Let me go, let me go! Someone might come!

PellasNo, no, no, I shall not give you your reedomtonight. You are my prisoner tonight, all nightlong, all night long

MlisandePellas! Pellas!

PellasI will tie your hair to the branch o the willow. Youwill never go ree, you will never go ree. Look,look! I want to touch your hair I dont suffer anymore when Im lost in your hair. Can you hear my

kisses travelling along your hair? My kisses flow upalong your hair. Each strand o your hair carrieskisses. You see, you see, I can open my arms, myhands are ree, but yet you cannot tear yourselaway.

(Some doves come out o the tower and fly aboutthem in the darkness.)

MlisandeOh, oh! Youve hurt me! What is that, Pellas?What is that flying above me?

Mlisande

I cant reach down any urther. I I lean any urther,Ill all! Oh! Oh! Look, my hair is alling downthe tower!

(As she leans, her hair suddenly unwinds andenelops Pellas.)

Pellas2 Oh, oh! Whats this? Your hair, your hair

has allen over me! All your hair, Mlisande, allyour hair has come alling down rom the tower!In my hands, in my mouth I run your hairthrough my fingers, then I hold it in my arms, thenI wind it all round my neck I shall not open myhands again tonight.

MlisandeLet me go, let me g o! I you dont, I might all!

PellasNo, no, no! Never in my lie have I seen hair likeyours, Mlisande! Look, look, look, it comes romso high up and alls so ar it envelops my veryheart. It alls down so l ow it envelops my knees.And it is sof, sof as i it had allen rom heaven.And now heaven is hidden rom me by your hair.Look, look! My two hands are not enough to holdit all, some o it even reaches the branch o thewillow. In my hands it comes alive as i it were a

bird, and it loves me, it loves me more than you!


50/87

51

Golaud

What children you are. Mlisande, dont lean soar out o the window, you might all. Dont yourealise its late? It is almost midnight. Dont playlike that in the dark. What children you are,(laughing nervously)what children, what children

(He goes out with Pellas.)

Scene 2Te castle vaults. Enter Golaud and Pellas.

Golaud4 Be careul. Follow me, ollow me. Have you

never been down here into these vaults?

PellasYes, yes, I have, once beore, but that was long ago.

GolaudOver there, theres the stagnant water I told youabout. Can you smell the stench o death? Wellgo to the edge o that rock that leans out, then youlean over; it will strike you immediately. Lean over,dont be araid. I shall hold you, let me hold you.No, no, not your hand, it might slip. Your arm.Can you see the abyss?(disturbed)

Pellas? Pellas?

Pellas

Tose are the doves that live in the tower. I musthave rightened them. Now they have flown away.

MlisandeTose are my doves, Pellas. Leave me alone, letsgo. Tey will never come back.

Pellasell me, why will they never come back?

MlisandeTey are sure to get lost in the darkness. Let me go,let me hold up my head! I hear ootsteps. Let mego! Its Golaud, I think its Golaud. He must haveheard us.

PellasStay still, stay still! Your hair is caught up in thetree. It got caught in the branches in the dark. Staystill, stay still! Its so dark

(Golaud enters by the path.)

Golaud3 What are you doing here?

PellasWhat am I doing here? I was


51/87

52

And now up here, everywhere air, resh rom the

sea! How resh the breeze! Feel, eel the breeze asresh as a newly opened lea, with its tender shootso green. Ah, the flowers at the edge o the terracehave been watered, and the scent o the resh leavesand o new-watered roses wafs up to us here.It must be near to noon, theyre already in theshadow o the tower. Yes, it is noon, I can hear thebells striking, and the children are g oing down tothe beach to bathe. Look ! Teres our mother withMlisande at the window in the tower.

GolaudYes, they have taken reuge in the shadows.

6 Speaking o Mlisande, I overheard whatpassed between you and what was said last night.

I know quite well those are childish g ames, butthat kind o scene must not happen again. She isvery rail and she needs all the more attention now,especially since she will soon be a mother, and theslightest emotion could have an unortunate effect.Tis is not the first time I have noticed that theremight be something between her and you. Youare older than she is. I hope what I have said willsuffice. Avoid her as much as possible, but not tooobviously o course, not too obviously.

(Tey go out.)

Pellas

Yes, I think I can see the very bottom o it. Is it thelight flickering like that? Were you?

(He starts, turns, and looks at Golaud.)

Golaud(his oice trembling)Yes, its the lantern. You see, I was waving it tothrow light on the walls.

PellasIts stifling here, lets go out.

GolaudYes, lets go out.

(Tey go out in silence.)

Scene 3A terrace at the entrance o the vaults. Enter Golaudand Pellas.

Pellas5 Ah, at last I can breathe! I thought or a

moment I was going to eel ill in those cavernousspaces. I elt on the verge o collapse. Te very airthere is heavy and dank, like dewdrops o lead,and the darkness is dense, like a poisonous brew.


52/87

53

Yniold

About the door.

GolaudTe door? Tey quarrel about the door, you say?Why should they quarrel about that?

YnioldBecause they dont want it open.

GolaudWhich o them doesnt want it open? Can you tellme, why do they quarrel?

YnioldI dont know, Papa. About the l ight.

GolaudI wasnt talking about the light, I was talking aboutthe door. Dont keep putting your hand in yourmouth like that! Come on!

YnioldSorry, Papa! Sorry, Papa! I wont do it aga in.

(He starts to cry.)

GolaudNow tell me, why are you beginning to cry? Whatmakes you do that?

Scene 4

Beore the castle. Enter Golaud and little Yniold.

Golaud7 Come, lets sit down here together, Yniold.

Come and sit here by me. From here we can seeeverything thats happening in the orest. I haveseen very little o you or some time. You havedeserted me too. You seem to spend all your timewith Mama. In act this very place where weresitting is exactly beneath her window. She is veryprobably at her evening prayers at this moment.But tell me, Yniold, she spends a lot o time withyour uncle Pellas, doesnt she?

Yniold

Yes, yes, a lot, yes, Papa, whenever youre away.

GolaudAh. Look, I can see someone coming down thegarden with a lantern. But Im told they do notlike each other. I understand that they ofen havequarrels, no? Is that true?

YnioldYes, yes, its true.

GolaudYes? Ah ha! In that case what are their quarrelsabout?


53/87

54

Yniold

You mean Pellas and Mama?

GolaudYes. But what do they talk about?

YnioldMe, its always me.

GolaudAnd what do they say about you?

YnioldTey say that I will be very big.

Golaud

Ah, despair and damnation! I eel like a blind manlooking or his gold at the bottom o the ocean!I eel like a newborn baby lost in the orest andyou But come, Yniold, my mind was wandering.I must ask you some serious questions. Pellas andMama, do they never talk about me when Im notpresent?

YnioldYes, yes, Papa.

GolaudAh and what do they say?

YnioldTey say that I will grow up to be as big as you.

Yniold

Oh, oh, oh, Papa, youve hurt me so!

GolaudIve hurt you so? Where have I hurt you? I didntmean to.

YnioldHere! Here, on my arm!

GolaudI did not mean to. Come now, stop crying. I youdo, Ill g ive you a present tomorrow.

YnioldWhat? What, Papa?

GolaudSome arrows and a quiver. But tell me what youknow about the door.

YnioldWill they be big arrows?

GolaudYes, yes, very, very big. But now you must tell me,why dont they want the door open? Come on,you must answer my question. No, no, open yourmouth to answer, not to cry. Im not angry withyou. But what do they talk about when theyretogether?


54/87

55

Golaud

Ah, ah! Give me patience, my God, give mepatience!

YnioldWhat, Papa?

GolaudNothing, nothing. It was nothing. A wol just wentby in the orest. Do they sometimes kiss? No?

YnioldDo they kiss sometimes, Papa? No, no. Oh yes,Papa! Yes, once, once, when it was raining.

Golaud

You say that they kissed? Are you sure? But how?In what way did they kiss?

YnioldJust like this, see, Papa, just like this.(He kisses him on the mouth, laughing.)Oh, oh, your beard, Papa! Its your beard, Papa!It tickles, it tickles! Look how grey your beardsgrowing! Look, look, Papa! And so too is yourhair! All grey, all grey!(At that moment a light appears in the windowabove where they are sitting and its light alls onthem.)

8 Oh look! Mama has lighted the lamp in herwindow. Now its light. Look, Papa, now its light.

Golaud

Are you always very near them?

YnioldYes, yes, very near, yes, Papa.

GolaudDo they never tell you, run away and play?

YnioldNo, no, Papa. Tey re araid when Im not there.

GolaudTeyre araid? How can you tell theyre araid?

Yniold

Tey cry all the time in the darkness.

GolaudAh ha!

YnioldAnd that makes me cry too.

GolaudYes, yes!

YnioldYes, Papa, shes so pale, Papa!


55/87

56

Do not make the slightest sound. Mama would

have a terrible right i she heard you. Do you seeher? Is she in the room?

YnioldYes. Oh, its so bright!

GolaudIs she alone in there?

YnioldYes. No, no! My uncle Pellas is in there too.

GolaudHe

YnioldOh, oh, Papa, Papa, youre hurting me!

GolaudNever mind, be quiet. I wont do that again. Keeplooking, keep looking, Yniold! I nearly slipped.Speak very quietly. What are they doing?

YnioldTeyre not doing anything, Papa.

GolaudAre they close to each other?

Yniold

No, no, Papa.

Golaud

Yes, it begins to get light.

YnioldLets go in there too. In there, Papa, lets go in theretoo.

GolaudWhere do you want to go?

YnioldWhere the light is. Up there, Papa.

GolaudNo, no, my child. Well stay out here a while inthe darkness. You never know, you never know or

certain. I do believe Pellas is mad.

YnioldNo, no, no, Papa, he isnt mad, but hes very kind.

GolaudWould you like to see Mama?

YnioldYes, yes, I would love to!

GolaudDo not make a sound. Ill lif you up as ar as thewindow. It is too high or me, even though Imso tall.(He lifs the child up.)


56/87

57

Golaud

Are they staying close to each other?

YnioldNo, no, Papa, they dont shut their eyes at all. Imterribly araid!

GolaudWhat are you araid o? Keep looking! Keeplooking!

YnioldNo, Papa, please let me get down now!

GolaudKeep looking!

YnioldOh, I want to scream, to scream, Papa! Please letme get down now! Please let me get down now!

GolaudCome on!

(Tey go out.)

End o Act III

Golaud

And And the bed? Are they near the bed?

YnioldTe bed, Papa? I cannot see the bed.

GolaudNot so loud! Or theyll hear you. Are theyspeaking?

YnioldNo, no, Papa, theyre not speaking.

GolaudBut what are they doing?

YnioldTey are looking at the light.

GolaudBoth o them?

YnioldYes, yes, Papa.

GolaudAre they doing anything?

YnioldNo, no, Papa, they dont shut their eyes.


57/87

58

Mlisande

Where would you like?PellasIn the park by the well, by the Blind Mans Well.You will? Will you come?

MlisandeYes.

PellasTis evening will be our last. I am going on mytravels just as my ather told me. You will not seeme again

Mlisande

Dont say that, Pellas. I shall see you always, I shallbe looking at you always.

PellasTere will be no purpose in looking. Ill be so araway that you wont be able to see me.

MlisandeWhat has happened, Pellas? I no longerunderstand what you say.

PellasNow go! We must not stay. I hear someones voicebehind that door.

(He goes out.)

COMPAC DISC HREE

Act IV

Scene 1A room in the castle. Pellas and Mlisande enterand meet.

Pellas1 Where are you going? I must speak to you this

evening. Will I see you?

MlisandeYes.

Pellas

I have come rom my athers bedside. He is better.Te doctor has told us he is saved. He knew whoI was. He took my hand and said in that strangemanner which he has had since his illness: Is ityou, Pellas? Listen, I have never noticed it beore,but you have that grave and riendly appearanceo one who will not live or very long. You mustsee the world, you must see the world. Its strange,I shall obey him. My mother heard him speakand wept with joy. Have you not noticed thedifference? Te whole house seems to have cometo lie again. One can hear breathing, one caneven hear movement. Listen closely: I can hearsomeones voice behind the door. Ten quick, tellme quickly, where shall I see you?


58/87

59

and again to touch a womans brow or a childs

cheek with his lips to reassure himsel that lie hasnot lost its reshness and or a moment to delay thethreat o death. ell me, do my old lips alarm you?Lately I have elt such pity or you.

MlisandeGrandather, I have not been unhappy.

ArkelLet me look at you ag ain like this; come closer ora moment One has such a need or beauty whennear to death.

(Enter Golaud.)

Golaud3 Pellas leaves tonight.

ArkelYou have blood on your orehead. What have youdone?

GolaudNothing, nothing. I scratched mysel when I camethrough a thornbush.

MlisandeWill you lower your head, my lord? I will wipeyour brow.

Scene 2

(Enter Arkel.)Arkel

2 Now that Pellass ather has recovered andnow that the sickness, that aithul servant odeath, has departed rom the castle, g limmers ohappiness, glimmers o sunlight may at last comeback into our house. Not beore time! For eversince you came, we have done nothing here butmove in whispers round the sick mans chamber.On my word, I was sorry or you, Mlisande. I havebeen watching you since you came here, you wereheedless perhaps, yet with that strange distractedair o one who expects misortune at any moment,even in the garden in the sunshine I cannot

explain. But it has disturbed me to see you thus,or you are too young and too beautiul to spendall your days and your nights in an atmosphereo death. But rom now on all these things willchange. In my old ag e and this perhaps is thesurest blessing o a lietime in my old age I havelearnt in a curious way to rely on the certainty odestiny, or I have observed how anyone youngand beautiul can draw to himsel a destiny young,beautiul, and happy And now it is you who willopen the door upon the new era which I oresee.Come here! Why do you not answer me, then, noreven raise your eyes? Only once have I kissed youbeore, and that was the very day you first arrived.Yet nonetheless an old man such a s I needs now


59/87

60

GolaudNothing in them but innocence! Tey are bigg erthan innocence. Tey are purer than the eyes oa lamb. Tey could give the Almighty a lessonin innocence! Nothing in them but innocence!See here: I am so close to her that I can eel thefluttering o her eyelid. Yet nonetheless I amurther rom the secrets o the other world thanto the urther secrets o those eyes. Nothingin them but innocence! More in them thaninnocence! Tere one could see celebration obaptism attended by heavenly angels. I know themwell, those eyes. I have seen them at work. Shutthem! Shut them! I you dont, then Ill shut themmysel!

4 Dont keep putting your hand to your throat

like that. Ill tell you something very simple: I haveno ulterior motive. I I had an ulterior motive,why should I not say at once? Ah, ah! Do not tryto escape! Come here. Give me your hands. Ah,your hands are too hot. Out o my sight! Yourflesh disgusts me. Out o my sight! It is no longer aquestion o escape.(He seizes her by the hair.)You can ollow me on your knees! G et down onyour knees! Ah ha! So your long hair may aferall be good or something. o the right, then tothe lef! o the lef, then to the right! Absalom,Absalom! Te orwards and backward! On theground there! On the ground there! Now you see!Now you see! I already laugh like an old man

Ha, ha, ha!

Golaud(pushing her back)I do not want you to touch me, do you hear? Getoff! I am not addressing you. Wheres my sword? Icame here to look or my sword.

MlisandeIt is here, on the prie-Dieu.

GolaudBring it here.(to Arkel)Another peasant has just been ound down by thesea, dead o starvation. One would think they allmean to die beore our very eyes.(to Mlisande)Well then. My sword! Why are you trembling like

that? I am not going to kill you. I only wanted toexamine the blade. I would not use a sword orsuch a purpose. Why do you examine me as i Iwere a pauper? I am not begging any charity romyou. Do you think youll find something in myeyes while things in your eyes, you hope, escape mynotice? Do you think that I know something?(to Arkel)Look at those great eyes! One might say they wereproud o their beauty.

ArkelI can see nothing in them but innocence.


60/87

61

between that rock and this stupid stone and nomatter how, I cant reach it. My little arm isnt longenough, and this stone is so big it doesnt wantto move at al l. You would think it had great longroots in the ground.(Sheep are heard bleating in the distance.)Oh, oh! I can hear sheep crying! Lo ok! Te sun isgoing in. I can see the little sheep coming. I can seethem! What a lot! Look what a lot! Te yre scaredo the dark. Teyre close together, much too close!Teyre crying, and theyre hurrying! Tere aresome there which keep pushing sideways. It seemsthey all keep g oing sideways, but they cant. Teshepherd is throwing earth at them. Oh, oh! Nowthey are coming this way. Ill see them rom closeby. What a lot there are! Now theyre not making

any more noise. Shepherd! Why dont they talkany more?

Shepherd(off-stage)Because this is not the way to the sheepold.

YnioldWhere are they going? Shepherd? Shepherd?Where are they going? He cant hear me. Teyrealready too ar away. Teyre not making any noise.Tis is not the way to the sheepold. Ten wherewill they sleep or the night? Oh, oh! Its too dark!I have something to tell someone.

(He goes out.)

Arkel(stepping orward)Golaud!

Golaud(suddenly becoming calm)You will do whatever you choose, to be sure. Itseems to me o no particular moment. I am tooold. And yet I am not a spy. I shall leave it tochance. And then Oh, and then! I mean, simplybecause its the custom, simply because its thecustom

(He goes out.)

ArkelWhat is wrong with him? Is he drunk?

Mlisande(in tears)No, no. But he loves me no more. I am not happy

ArkelI I were God, I would have pity on the heart oman.

Scene 3A well in the park. Little Yniold is discoveredattempting to lif a boulder.

Yniold5 Oh, this stones so heavy! Its much heavier

than I am. Its much heavier than everyone. Its

much heavier than everything. I see my ball there


61/87


62/87

63

PellasTis is possibly the very last time I shall see you. Imust go away or e ver.

MlisandeWhy do you always say youre going away?

PellasMust I tell you what you already know? Do younot know what Im going to tell you?

MlisandeNo, I dont. I know nothing.

PellasDo you not know the reason why I have to leave

you? Do you not know that its because(He kisses her suddenly.)I love you.

Mlisande(in a low oice)I love you too.

PellasOh, what was that, Mlisande? I could hardly hearwhat you said. Te ice has been broken with redhot irons! Your voice, when you sa id that, camerom the ends o the earth! I could hardly hearwhat you said. You love me? You love me too?How long have you loved me?

MlisandeBecause your brother had a nightmare. Ten as Ilef, my dress got caught on a nail o the gate. Youwill see where its torn. Id lost so much time, soI ran.

PellasMy poor Mlisande! I almost eel araid to touchyou. You are still out o breath, like a hunted bird.Is it or me youve done this, is it or me? I canhear your heart beating, as though it were my own.Come here, come close to me!

MlisandeWhy are you smiling?

PellasI am not smiling, or rather Im smiling or joywithout knowing why. Surely theres more reasonnow to weep.

Mlisande7 We came here a long time ago, I remember.

PellasYes, that was long months ago. At that time I didnot know Do you know why I have asked you tocome this evening?

MlisandeNo.


63/87

64

MlisandeTats because my gaze is on you.

PellasWhy are you looking at me so seriously? Teshadows have already deepened. Its too darkunder the trees here. Come here where its lighter.Tere in the dark we cannot see how happy we are.Come, come, we have so little time.

MlisandeNo, no, lets stay here. We are much closer in thedarkness.

PellasWhere are your eyes? Youre not going to run

away? Your thoughts are not with me at thismoment.

MlisandeTey are! Tey are all with you!

PellasYour eyes were somewhere else.

MlisandeI saw you somewhere else.

PellasYoure not at ease. Whats the matter? You seemunhappy.

MlisandeFor ever. Ever since I first saw you.

Pellas8 It is as i your voice had come over the sea

in the spring! I have never heard it until today. Itsas though it had rained on my heart. You say thosewords so openly, like an angel answering questions.I can scarcely believe it, Mlisande. Why shouldyou love me? Why do you love me? Is it true whatyou say? Were you making it up? Were you lying tome just to make me eel happy?

MlisandeNo, I never tell l ies. I only lie to your brother.

PellasOh, the way you say that! Your voice, your voice!It is as resh and as clear as water! It is like purespring water on my lips. It is like pure spring wateron my hands. Give me your hands, let me takeyour hands. Oh, your hands are so tiny! I neverknew you were so beautiul. I had never set eyes onanything as beautiul beore. I could not rest, I keptsearching everywhere in the house, I kept searchingeverywhere in the country, but never ound thebeauty I sought. And now at last I have ound you.I have ound you. I dont believe there is anywhereon earth a woman more beautiul. Where are you?I dont hear your breathing any more.


64/87

65

MlisandeIm sure I heard a noise.

PellasI hear only your heart b eating in the darkness.

MlisandeIm sure I heard the crackling o leaves.

PellasTats the wind growing suddenly still. Te winddropped while we kissed just now.

MlisandeSee how our shadows grow longer tonight!

PellasTey intertwine and reach the end o the garden!Ah, dyou see them kissing over there? Look, look!

Mlisande(in a stifled oice)Ah! Hes behind a tree!

PellasWho?

MlisandeGolaud.

PellasGolaud? Where? I see nothing.

MlisandeNo, no, I am happy. But I am sad

Pellas9 What is that noise? Teyre closing the gates!

MlisandeYes, the gates are closed now.

PellasSo we cannot get back in. Do you hear the bolts?Listen! Listen! Tose were the chains. Now its toolate, now its too late!

MlisandeOh good! Tats good!

PellasYou? You see, you see Its no longer within ourpower. All is lost! All won! All has been wontonight! Come! Come! My heart is beating so, itleaps to my throat.(He takes her in his arms.)Ah! Listen! I eel my heart is nearly strangling me.Come! Ah! See the beauty o the shadows!

Mlisande10 Tere is someone here, just behind us.

PellasI dont see anyone.


65/87

66

PellasHere he comes! Your lips, your lips!

MlisandeYes, yes, yes!

(Tey embrace passionately.)

PellasOh, oh, all the stars o heaven are alling!

MlisandeOn me as well! On me as well!

PellasAgain, yes, again! Be mine!

MlisandeIm all yours! All yours, all yours!

(Golaud alls upon them, sword in hand, andstrikes down Pellas who alls at the edge o the well.Mlisande flees in terror.)

Mlisande(in flight)Oh, oh, I have no more courage, I have no morecourage Ah

(Golaud ollows her through the woods in silence.)

End o Act IV

MlisandeTere, at the end o our shadows.

PellasYes, yes, I can see him. Dont turn away toosuddenly.

MlisandeHes got his sword.

PellasI dont have mine here.

MlisandeHe saw! I know he saw us kissing.

PellasHe doesnt know that weve seen him. Dont movean inch. Dont turn your head or he might rushout. Hes watch

Pelléas and Melisande - Libretto

Documents

Transcript of Pelléas and Melisande - Libretto