Pelléas et Mélisande, often perceived as an opera of understatement and half-lights, is transformed by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra into an intense, but still mysterious drama of seething passions. As the powerful yet tortured Golaud, José van Dam is heard in perhaps his greatest role, while the poetic Richard Stilwell as his half-brother Pelléas falls under the spell of Frederica von Stade, enigmatically sensuous as Mélisande.

“A controversial recording: too 'hot-house' for some but full of breathtaking playing and a heartbreakingly touching pair of lovers. This was clearly a labour of love for the great Austrian conductor” The Gramophone Classical Music Guide