{"id":15282,"date":"2026-03-11T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpmgarts.com\/media\/?page_id=15282"},"modified":"2026-03-12T09:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:41:25","slug":"opera-atelier-pelleas-et-melisande","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mpmgarts.com\/media\/campaigns\/opera-atelier-pelleas-et-melisande\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Atelier: Pell\u00e9as et Melisande"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PRESS RELEASE<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Opera Atelier Breaks New Ground with North America\u2019s First Period Production of Debussy\u2019s Impressionist Masterpiece, Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande
\n<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

20th century opera represents the latest repertoire from Opera Atelier and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra\u2013creating a new definition for period production
\n<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Toronto, ON \u2013 <\/b>Opera Atelier concludes its 2025\/26 season with a production that puts the company on the cutting edge of period performance practice internationally, with its premiere of Claude Debussy\u2019s <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/i><\/b>, <\/span><\/i>at the <\/span>TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning at Koerner Hall<\/b>, from <\/span>April 15-19, 2026<\/b>. Rich with symbolism and dream imagery, <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/span><\/i> is Debussy\u2019s sole opera. The uniquely imagined production has long been a dream of Co-Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, a dream passionately shared by Opera Atelier\u2019s creative team.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Debussy\u2019s <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande <\/span><\/i>is based on the symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck, in which a prince, lost in a forest, discovers a beautiful woman weeping beside a pool of water \u2013 bringing him in contact with a supernatural world from which there is no escape. As a composer, Debussy had a deep admiration for 17th and 18th century French music, which runs like an undercurrent throughout <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first approached Jeanne Lamon, who was then the Artistic Director of Tafelmusik, to ask if she would consider having Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra play for a production of <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/span><\/i>, her answer was characteristically insightful and profound,\u201d says Pynkoski. \u201c \u2018Who, she asked, could be better equipped to interpret Debussy\u2019s Impressionist masterpiece than an orchestra steeped in the tradition of 17th and 18th century French repertoire?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Opera Atelier Associate Music Director Dr. Christopher Bagan enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to realize a unique score of Debussy\u2019s massive opera in a new arrangement for Opera Atelier.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cUsually we view Debussy through a modern lens, looking backward from our time and context. My approach attempts the reverse: I am looking at this piece from the lush splendour of the French Baroque looking forward,\u201d says Dr. Bagan \u201cI want to view <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et Melisande<\/span><\/i> through the eyes of the Couperins, Charpentiers, and Rameaus of the past.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Opera Atelier Resident Music Director David Fallis acted as a liaison between Dr. Bagan and Tafelmusik. Fallis\u2019 decision to shift from a large orchestra to a nimble ensemble of 14 of Tafemusik\u2019s finest soloists ensures Maurice Maeterlinck\u2019s French text is given total primacy.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Fallis is uniquely qualified to lead the company into this new territory. Renowned as an early music specialist and for his command of the most avant garde new music, he sees this production as a take-off point for new initiatives for Opera Atelier while never losing sight of the Baroque repertoire that remains the company\u2019s aesthetic foundation.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Adds Fallis: \u201cDr. Bagan\u2019s new edition effectively recenters Maeterlinck\u2019s symbolist drama and French text by translating the work into the more intimate, immediate context of Toronto\u2019s Koerner Hall.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Opera Atelier has assembled an international cast of superb French specialists, all of whom will create their roles for the first time. The cast features French tenor Antonin Rondepierre as Pell\u00e9as, soprano Meghan Lindsay as M\u00e9lisande, baritone Douglas Williams as Golaud, OA Artist-in-Residence soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee as Genevi\u00e8ve and soprano Cynthia Akemi-Smithers as Yniold. Canadian bass baritone Philippe Sly makes his much-anticipated OA debut as Arkel.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe full corps of the Artists of Atelier Ballet will be seamlessly integrated into the production,\u201d says Zingg. \u201cThe dancers act as a force of nature or fate, invisible to the characters on stage as they drive them toward an inescapable destiny.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

As Stage Director, Pynkoski promises a production unlike any other in Opera Atelier\u2019s history, a theatre experience that will blur the lines between time and place, dream and reality.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Opera Atelier\u2019s production of <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande <\/span><\/i>will feature David Fallis conducting Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. <\/span>Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande <\/span><\/i>will be directed by Marshall Pynkoski and choreographed by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, with set design by Gerard Gauci, costume design by Michael Gianfrancesco and lighting design by Kimberly Purtell. The production will take place fully staged in Koerner Hall, which will be transformed into a unique performance space thanks to the Jerry and Joan Lozinski Opera Atelier Reimagined Project at Koerner Hall TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tickets and information at <\/span>OperaAtelier.com<\/span><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

About Opera Atelier (<\/b>OperaAtelier.com<\/b><\/a>)<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Opera Atelier is North America\u2019s leading opera\/ballet company dedicated to creating period productions realized as complete artistic statements – with equal attention given to music, dancing, acting, and design. With productions performed in partnership with award-winning period-instrument orchestra, Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier has toured to major opera houses and festivals internationally. <\/span>Opera Atelier is dedicated to equity, diversity and inclusion, the education of youth and young artists, and offers a robust slate of education, enrichment and outreach opportunities to engage audience members of all ages.<\/span>Since 1985, Opera Atelier has been led by co-founding Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, who most recently, <\/span>were both named members of the Order of Canada and Officers of the Order of Arts and Letters (Officiers dans l\u2019Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
LISTING INFORMATION:<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nOpera Atelier presents Debussy\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/i><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dates & Times:<\/td>\nApril 15, 16 & 18 at 7:30pm; April 19 at 2:30pm<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Venue:<\/td>\nTELUS Centre for Performance and Learning
\nat Koerner Hall
\n273 Bloor St W, Toronto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ticket Prices:<\/td>\n$85 to $270 (taxes + fees included)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ticket Link:<\/td>\nOperaAtelier.com<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Website:<\/td>\nOperaAtelier.com<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Download Press Release: Word<\/a> + PDF<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”COMPANY LOGO” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Lato%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”]

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