Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

"She was such a quiet creature, wrapped in mystery as we all are…" In an ancient castle by a silent sea, the princess Mélisande yearns for love, but finds only sorrow. In his 2016 Zurich staging, director Dmitri Tcherniakov strips away the mist that cloaks Debussy's symbolist opera to present a modern, poetic and uncompromisingly honest exploration of trauma, memory and the damage that humans inflict upon those they love. With its minimalist designs, and a cast that stars Corinne Winters and Jacques Imbrailo as the doomed lovers, this is a landmark of recent European opera production.