Morning:
14°c
Some fares could fall by more than a third when Oyster is extended to every national rail station in London, it has emerged
More...
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Nick Kimberley's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Alessandro Talevi.
Cast: Independent Opera, Dominic Wheeler (cond), Madeleine Boyd (des), Andrew Foster-Williams (Golaud), Thorbjorn Gulbrandsoy (Pelleas), Delphine Gillot (Melisande)
Description: Dominic Wheeler takes the baton as Andrew Foster-Williams, Thorbjorn Gulbrandsoy and Delphine Gillot star in Debussy's dreamy drama, set at the court of the king of Allemonde. Directed by Alessandro Talevi. Sung in French with surtitles.
Trains: Tube: Angel 
Phone: 0844412 4300
Website: www.sadlerswells.com
Interesting spin: Ingrid Perruche makes Melisande into a convincing silent movie vamp
Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, premiered in 1902, may be the first great opera of the 20th century yet it remains marginal repertoire. Its power is understated, elusive, even unoperatic: before the premiere, Debussy instructed his cast: “Please forget that you are singers.”
Much of the appeal lies in the orchestration but for this Independent Opera production, composer Stephen McNeff has rescored the piece for chamber orchestra. If you cut the orchestra in half, of course some of the mystery goes missing but here, with conductor Dominic Wheeler achieving a fine balance between tension and restraint, surprisingly little.
The Baylis Studio is not the most malleable theatre but Madeleine Boyd’s multi-level set transforms it into a claustrophobic space that brings you face to face with Debussy’s hapless characters. Boyd and director Alessandro Talevi have removed the cod-medievalism, relocating the action to the time of its composition. Some interpretative details might be controversial, notably the homoerotic charge that courses from Golaud to Pelléas, but none gets in the way.
Instead the repressed hysteria that Freud located in the bourgeois family rips right through the tightly knit fabric of respectability. Each of the young singers is wholly inside their role and while the opera might hit even harder if it was sung in English, everyone handles the text’s very particular prosody with skill, although only two of the cast are French.
Thanks to the sheer force of their performances, Thorbjørn Gulbrandsøy’s Pelléas and Andrew Foster-Williams’s Golaud seem the focal points but Ingrid Perruche makes Mélisande a convincing silent movie vamp. There are no weak links. Many more glamorous productions achieve half as much with twice the resources.
Tomorrow and Saturday. Information: 0844 412 4300
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
