Hugh Macdonald, Bizet (Master Musician Series) (New York and Oxford: Oxford University, 2014). xi + 300 pp. £22.99.

Abstract

Taken together, such examples of intertexuality not only offer important insights about Debussy's approach to musical composition, but they have interesting programmatic implications as well. Finally, the volume presents a very narrow picture of how Pelléas et Mélisande has influenced later generations of composers. While it is useful to discuss Debussy's influence on Szymanowski, Koechlin and Schoenberg, it is by no means clear that these three composers give an adequate picture of the extraordinary impact Debussy's opera has had on later composers. That picture might also include other operatic and stage works such as Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-bleue (1906), Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle (1911), Stravinsky's Le Rossignol (1908-14) and even Bernstein's West Side Story (1957), whose ending recalls Mélisande's death in the final pages of Acte 5. More recently, Witold Lutosławski developed the opening motive of Debussy's opera in his Grave for cello and piano (1981, 1982), a work that he dedicated to the distinguished Debussy aficionado Stefan Jarocinski. Pelléas et Mélisande has even inspired people working in the popular domain: in 1981 Gualtiero Bartalini created an amusing version of the story in rhyme, and in 1983 P. Craig Russell produced a wonderful comic book adaptation of the drama. 31 Allusions to Pelléas et Mélisande can even be found in the sound tracks to Hollywood movies, such as Portrait of Jennie (1948). 32 All in all, this volume is certainly an important addition to the bookshelf. Its strengths are clear. The essays provide the reader with a wide variety of different perspectives from which to view Pelléas et Mélisande: there's something here for everyone. Meanwhile, the documentary materials are invaluable to anyone interested in the reception history of the opera. The text is, furthermore, beautifully edited and nicely produced. But the book does have quirks that some readers will find perplexing. These idiosyncrasies suggest that there is a good deal more to say about the aesthetic background, genesis, musical structure, and historical impact of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. If the volume prompts us to delve more deeply into these topics, then it has done its job admirably. With luck, this enigmatic opera will continue to challenge us for the next hundred years and more.