Operatic intrigue and Debussy's 'Pelleas'

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

Today we have a tale of jealousy to tell — the tale of Claude and Mary and Maurice and Georgette — related to the premiere, on today’s date in 1902, of Pelléas et Mélisande.

This new opera by Claude Debussy was based on a play about jealousy by the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. Debussy had worked on his opera for years with no objection from Maeterlinck until late in 1901, when Debussy announced that the Scottish soprano Mary Garden would sing the role of Mélisande.

Suddenly, two weeks before the premiere, Maeterlinck began saying the opera was “alien” to him, that he had lost artistic control over his own work, that he hoped the opera would flop.

Well, that accounts for Claude and Mary and Maurice, but what about Georgette? Turns out she was the real reason behind Maeterlinck’s objections. Georgette was a soprano — and Maeterlinck’s mistress. When Debussy refused to even consider her for the lead role in his new opera, Maeterlinck’s smear campaign began.

He was not alone — eminent French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, jealous as any character in Debussy’s opera, delayed his customary vacation abroad to stay in Paris, and, as he put it, “to speak ill of Pelléas.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Pelléas et Mélisande; Cleveland Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf, conductor; Cleveland 9375