Streaming date: 2 November 2025, 19:00 (CET)
Opera:Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy
Conductor: Alain Altinoglu
Production, stage & light: Marco Arturo Marelli
Costume design: Dagmar Niefind
Cast: Rolando Villazón (Pelléas), Kate Lindsey (Mélisande), Simon Keenlyside (Golaud), Jean Teitgen (Arkel), Monika Bohinec (Geneviève), Hannah-Theres Weigl (Yniold), Dohoon Lee (A doctor)
Streaming platform: Vienna State Opera Live. (free with registration)
The Vienna State Opera presents a free live stream of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande on 2 November 2025. Viewers around the world can register to watch the performance at no cost, conducted by Alain Altinoglu and featuring Rolando Villazón and Kate Lindsey in the title roles.
Set in the mythical kingdom of Allemonde, this opera unfolds in a world of twilight and secrecy. Golaud discovers a mysterious young woman by the water and makes her his wife — but her growing affection for his half-brother Pelléas drives the story to its tragic end. Mélisande’s death after giving birth to a daughter leaves Golaud tormented by jealousy and unanswered questions.
Debussy made water the opera’s essential symbol: an element of reflection and mystery. Director Marco Arturo Marelli places the action in a bunker-like space flooded with water, a confined world that mirrors the characters’ inner solitude. The staging balances the shadows of despair with glimpses of hope — a “utopian horizon” toward which Mélisande drifts in her final moments.
Premiered in 1902 and based on Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist play, Pelléas et Mélisande stands apart in operatic history — a “solitaire” in Debussy’s own words. Its music flows like spoken language, fusing voice and orchestra into a single, elusive texture. Beneath its surface lies a depth of emotion that evokes what the composer called “the mysterious beyond.”
Rarely performed yet revered among connoisseurs, Pelléas et Mélisande remains one of opera’s most poetic explorations of love, fate, and the secrets hidden beneath still waters.
Subscribe to our newsletter