Claude Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande ~ Abbado
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Composer: Claude DebussyOrchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Performer: Maria Ewing
Performer: Francois Le Rous
Performer: Jose Van Dam
Performer: Jean-Philippe Courtis
Performer: Christa Ludwig
Performer: Rudolf Mazzola
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set
Published: 1992
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Music reviews of Claude Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande ~ Abbado
Music Review: A shimmering Pelleas that outdoes many modern French rivals
Rating: 5 Stars
It's strange that we should be comparing Karajan's exquisite 1978 recording of Pelleas and Melisande from Berlin with Abbado's account from 1991 in Vienna, both recorded far from Paris. This most French of French operas hasn't had a great recording from its homeland since Ansermet (there's a serious new contender under Haitink, however, on the Naive label). Karajan's version was so outstanding that one has to ask what Abbado can possibly add. In fact, he's almost as good.
Maria Ewing makes an exquisite Melisande, as fresh of voice and slightly more dramatic than Frederica von Stade on Karajan's set (not to mention that for some listeners, the fast beat in von Stade's voice isn't appealing). The Pelleas, Francois Le Roux, has a lighter, more tenorish voice than Richard Stilwell for Karajan, and much better French, but he tends to strain in the upper range, so it's a draw there. Both performances feature Jose van Dam as Golaud, and he is masterful each time, although of course older sounding under Abbado thirteen years later.
DG's recorded sound is impeccable--natural, open, clear. The Vienna Phil. is recorded closer here than Karajan's Berliners, and he assiduously kept the orchestral part in the background. In sum, it would be hard to imagine a better recording than Abbado's, unless you insist upon a cast that's Gallic from top to bottom, in which case you must reach far back in time.
Description of Claude Debussy: Pelleas et Melisande ~ Abbado
Claude Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande with Maria Ewing, Francois Le Roux, Jose Van Dam, Jean-Phillipe Courtis, Christa Ludwig, Patrizia Pace, Rudolph Mazzola. Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado.Classical CDs
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