Debussy’s only opera has fared very well on recordings, and this set stands tall even within that framework. As you might expect, Herbert von Karajan looks backward, to Wagner, for his approach to the score, and indeed, makes a good case for it. The voices and orchestra tell the story equally, and Karajan makes the music surge forward inevitably, with never a let-up in concentration. He brings out the emotion as Boulez does not, for instance, but he also never sentimentalizes, as Abbado occasionally does. His cast is wonderful: Richard Stillwell’s handsome baritone and forthright delivery make us like him at once–if he happens to fall for his brother’s wife, well, nobody’s perfect. And Frederica von Stade’s Melisande is an ideal foil–not as insubstantial as some, she nonetheless makes us feel the character’s inherent mystery and sadness. Jose van Dam’s Golaud is towering–deeply troubled and moved to violence, but heroic. The rest of the cast is splendid, as is the sound. The Berlin Philharmonic plays the score as shiny satin; Debussy’s orchestration comes through at every turn.
