Olivier Tambosis "Pelleas et Melisande" in Linz:

      "A Quirk in the Sandbox"

   LINZ, Stable is the ground, on which the protagonists move, with
   out doubts not.  A large snowwhite carpet shelter the little scene,
   which only in its groundcoloured gloom reminds of a wood.  With heavy
   steps Goland rove about this lesser secret ashlar, which stands there
   as a turgid superstructure.  But there are not really treetrunks he
   roves about, but people: In the background sits Arkel with a
   weddingdress in a sewing-machine, Genevieve sits with a basket full
   of letters, also Pelleas stands there in a corner.  And though are
   all always there, in the unconscious, and theres the point of issue.

   Instead of sitting at the obligat well, Melisande looses her
   tears in a basin she carries with her.  In Tambosis unconventional
   interpretation she becames the target of male longing and obsessions.
   Whoever this strange spirit ever is, who enforced stands Golauds
   avaricious endearments, reamins mysterious as the deteriorating
   relationship between Golaud and his halfbrother Pelleas, which reveals
   latent homoerotic components.  But one thing is clear: Both are
   searching their identity.  And then they sink down in the deeps of
   their unconsciousness and they remove the carpet fom the weak ground.
   Under it is sand and finally one can see the coming protagonists
   starting to bury each other.  Nothing but sandbox playing are all
   the erotic flirts, independent of it is Pelleas childish love to
   Melisande, or Golauds raving jealousity, or Arkels desire which
   Melisande stills with her guilelessly uncovered breasts.

   Also when not all threads that are in Tambosis mind come out: With
   this deeppsychological reinterpretation of Maurice Maeterlincks
   symbolic text, this production in the Linzer Landestheater, is a
   contrast to the usual natureidylle, in which DeBussys Opera is mostly
   to be seen in Austria (Graz and Wien).  Tambosi set the deformations
   by the male self assertion free, only to fall down in the sterility
   of Peter Sellars Amsterdam production.  The costumes to this Drama
   Lyrique, which has been played more and more often in the last time,
   was made by Frank Phillip Schloessmann, who also made the costumes
   to the 1994 production in Frankfurt, still the Linz production is a
   little original.

   Although the hoovering music tend to slightly disturb the plot,
   Tambosi succed to bring out the tension between close and distant,
   between intimity and suspicious watching.  Smartly solved is also
   the symbolic scene with the tower, in which Pelleas stands in a
   sandhole, and tries to reach Melisandes hair.  It also shows that
   Pelleas is not lesser violent as his brother Golaud, who tries to
   murder him at the visit in the grotto: Once again there is a sandhole
   in which he sinks down Pelleas so only his hands are visible.  Then
   Golaund is thinking very long time before he decides to rescue him.
   Suffering from this male powergame is Melisande who in the end ends
   up sitting alone on a chair.

   The Swiss soprano Chaterine Boesinger has a wonderfully clear voice,
   and has a good partner in trhe Vienna Baritone Adam Eroed, who sings
   Pelleas.  Eroed has a nice timbre and a lyric voice, and doesn't seem
   to have any problems to reach his high notes.  This is indeed a
   promising roledebut for Eroed!  The other roles are made by: Bernhard
   Lyon (Golaud), William Mason (Arkel), Ewa Marcinec (Genovieve) and
   Christoph Prendl (Yniold).

   Musically the evening in Linz is a successful one.  The newcomer from
   Tyrolian salzburger Michael Gielen School: Oswald Sallaberger conducts
   the Bruckner Orchesters Linz to a clear "Pelleas", that reminds of
   Pierre Boulez interpretation.  Still sallabergers interpretation goes
   its own way: Full of temerament he raises the orchestra to climaxes
   at Golauds Jealousityscenes, while the orchestra really sounds sweet
   in Pelleas sweet scenes with Melisande.  All in all a colourplayiong
   full of facettes, in which especially the woodwinds comes to their
   right.

   After Linz the production will come to Nuernberg (orchestra members
   form Nuernberg are cooperating with this orchestra), and the future
   will tell if they succeed in keeping this very high niveau.

   (Rheinhard Kager)

Andreas Doebeln
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