Pelléas and Mélisande
A voiceless opera
Thursday
30.11.2023
19:30 — Victoria Hall
Series S
World premiere
Mécène

Wednesday
29.11.2023
19:30 — Victoria Hall
Series O
World premiere
programme
Jonathan Nott
conductor
Maria João Pires
piano
Claude Debussy
Pelléas and Mélisande, symphonic suite (created by Jonathan Nott)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 4 in G major Op. 58
the music
The orchestral interludes that Debussy composed hastily to facilitate the changes of scenery in his opera Pelléas et Mélisande are among his best instrumental works. They made several conductors in love with the score want to amplify them by orchestrating entire parts of the opera in the form of a symphonic suite. After Leinsdorf, Constant, Monteux, Barbirolli and, more recently, Abbado and Altinoglu, Jonathan Nott presents his own work as a world premiere. This new arrangement will make it possible to hear the drama thanks to a careful selection of instruments taking up the leitmotifs sung by the various characters of Maurice Maeterlinck's drama. For her return to our concerts, Maria João Pires has chosen Beethoven's Concerto No. 4, which blends so well brio and secret revolt with its contemplative and emotional andante.