Composers Datebook®

Operatic intrigue and Debussy's 'Pelleas'

Composers Datebook - April 30, 2024
DOWNLOAD

Synopsis

Today we have a tale of jealousy to tell — the tale of Claude and Mary and Maurice and Georgette — related to the premiere, on today’s date in 1902, of Pelléas et Mélisande.

This new opera by Claude Debussy was based on a play about jealousy by the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. Debussy had worked on his opera for years with no objection from Maeterlinck until late in 1901, when Debussy announced that the Scottish soprano Mary Garden would sing the role of Mélisande.

Suddenly, two weeks before the premiere, Maeterlinck began saying the opera was “alien” to him, that he had lost artistic control over his own work, that he hoped the opera would flop.

Well, that accounts for Claude and Mary and Maurice, but what about Georgette? Turns out she was the real reason behind Maeterlinck’s objections. Georgette was a soprano — and Maeterlinck’s mistress. When Debussy refused to even consider her for the lead role in his new opera, Maeterlinck’s smear campaign began.

He was not alone — eminent French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, jealous as any character in Debussy’s opera, delayed his customary vacation abroad to stay in Paris, and, as he put it, “to speak ill of Pelléas.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Pelléas et Mélisande; Cleveland Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf, conductor; Cleveland 9375

On This Day

Births

  • 1870 - Hungarian-born Austrian composer Franz Léhar, in Komorn

  • 1939 - American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, in Miami. She was the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music (in 1983 for her Symphony No. 1).

Premieres

  • 1728 - Handel: opera Tolomeo, Re d'Egitto (Ptolomy, King of Egypt), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: May 11)

  • 1855 - Berlioz: Te Deum, at the church of St. Eustache in Paris

  • 1902 - Debussy: opera Pelléas and Mélisande, in Paris at the Opéra-Comique

  • 1925 - Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 3, in Bochum, Germany, conducted by the composer with Rudolf Hindemith as cello soloist

  • 1934 - Stravinsky: opera Persephone, at the Paris Opéra, with Ida Rubinsetin in the principal role (spoken part) and the composer conducting

  • 1973 - Lou Harrison: Concerto for Organ, at San Jose State University, with organist Philip Simpson

  • 1991 - Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Bass Trombone Concerto, by soloist Charles Vernon with the Chicago Symphony, Daniel Barenboim conducting

  • 1994 - John Harbison: String Quartet No. 3, at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, by the Lydian String Quartet

Others

  • 1932 - Opening of the first Yaddo Festival of Contemporary Music at Saratoga Springs, New York

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

YourClassical

Strauss, Shostakovich, Hitler and Stalin

Richard Strauss (1864-1949): ‘Ein Heldenleben’; Daniel Majeske, violin; Cleveland Orchestra; Daniel Barenboim, conductor; London 414 292 Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’ excerpts; Scottish National Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor; Chandos 8587

2:00
Get Composers Datebook in your inbox
YourClassical

Requiems and Elegies by Faure and Rouse

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924): ‘Requiem’; The Cambridge Singers; John Rutter, conductor; Collegium 101 Christopher Rouse (1949-2019): Symphony No. 2 and Flute Concerto; Carol Wincenc, flute; Houston Symphony; Christoph Eschenbach, conductor; Telarc 80452

2:00
YourClassical

Hollywood anniversaries

George Gershwin (1898-1937): ‘An American in Paris’; Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; John Mauceri, conductor; Philips 438 663 Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): ‘1812 Overture’; Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan, conductor; EMI Classics 65690

2:00
YourClassical

Handel declines, Schuman accepts

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): ‘Sinfonia’ from ‘Athalia Academy of Ancient Music’; Christopher Hogwood, conductor; L’Oiseau-Lyre 417 126 William Schuman (1910-1992): ‘Chester (Variations for Piano)’; Alexei Sultanov, piano; Teldec 46103

2:00
YourClassical

Respighi's 'The Pines of Rome'

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936): ‘Feste Romane’; Montréal Symphony; Charles Dutoit, conductor; London 410 145 Spike Jones (1911-1965): ‘Rhapsody’ from ‘Hunger’; Spike Jones and his City Slickers; RCA 3235

2:00
YourClassical

'The Composer is Dead!'

Lemony Snicket and Nathaniel Stookey: ‘The Composer is Dead’; Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler), narrator; San Francisco Symphony; Edwin Outwater, conductor; Book Audio CD

2:00
YourClassical

'The Ballad of Baby Doe'

Douglas Moore (1893-1969): ‘The Ballad of Baby Doe’; Jan Grissom, soprano; Central City Opera Orchestra; John Moriarty, conductor; Newport Classics 85593

2:00
YourClassical

Noteworthy Boulanger and Zwilich

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918): ‘Hymne au Soleil’; New London Chamber Choir; James Wood, conductor; Hyperion 66726 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939): Symphony No. 3; Louisville Orchestra; James Sedares, conductor; Koch International 7278

2:00
YourClassical

The theme to 'Seinfeld'

Jonathan Wolff (b. 1958): ‘Theme,’ from ‘Seinfeld’; Water Tower Music digital download

2:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.

About Composers Datebook®
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00