With the re-release of the highly acclaimed Peter Stein/Pierre Boulez production of Pelleas et Melisande from 1992 at the Welsh National Opera on DVD, Deutsche Grammophon celebrates the centenary of the first production of this Debussy opera. "Boulez' career in the opera house has been limited to a few composers: Berg, Wagner, and two productions of Pelleas. This one, a joint venture of the Welsh National Opera and the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, was taped without an audience, following the Cardiff premiere.

The collaboration with the German director Peter Stein turns out well: the staging is both imaginative and intelligent, creating credibly impetuous and self-centered characters and coherent scenes that illuminate the action rather than obsucuring it. - Hagley's Mélisande is both devious and anguished, Archer's Pelleas fervent and callow. Maxwell's Golaud progresses convincingly from bluffly insecure prince to violent husband. The orchestra plays lucidly and powerfully, but with the textural clarity and timbral refinement that have always been Boulez' specialities."

The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Opera on Video, 1997,