Pelléas et Mélisande or The desperate sadness of the unconscious

Graham Vick’s production of Pelléas et Mélisande, originally conceived for the Glyndebourne Summer Festival but already brought to Oxford and other cities in Southern England by Glyndebourne on Tour a few years ago, sets the action in the early twentieth century, at the time of the opera’s composition. This is by now a well-known, indeed almost clichéd directorial ploy, of course. In the case of Pelléas, however, it remains highly significant, since this work’s dramatic aesthetics relies so crucially on the absence of a precise setting, both chronologically and geographically. Where is Allemonde? When does the action take place? That we cannot answer these questions precisely is fundamental to making Pelléas what it is. It should follow, then, that Vick’s production goes against the grain of the work’s dramaturgy and aesthetics, since it…