descripção
Robert Orledge's fascination with Claude Debussy began in the early 1980s when he published Debussy and the Theatre with Cambridge University Press. Researching in Paris, he was astonished to discover that Debussy planned over 50 theatrical works but only fully completed two on his own: the opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1893–1902) and the ballet Jeux (1912–13). The rest were abandoned, sketched, or left to other composers to finish.
One of the most intriguing unfinished works is Rodrigue et Chimène, an opera set in medieval Spain about two lovers torn apart when Rodrigue is forced to kill Chimène's father to defend his family's honor. The story follows Rodrigue as he seeks redemption on the battlefield, with the opera ending on a bittersweet note of hope — if he survives the war, he may finally marry the woman he loves. Debussy wrote the bulk of the music between 1890 and 1892, but the project was never completed.
Orledge's new performing edition is based on the vocal score held at the Morgan Library in New York, and follows Debussy's own orchestral sketches as closely as possible, filling gaps in a style faithful to his late Romantic, Wagnerian-influenced idiom of the period. It is his hope that this completion will allow Rodrigue et Chimène to finally take its rightful place in the operatic repertoire. This item is the full score. The parts are available on rental from the publisher.