{"id":123145,"date":"2026-04-06T16:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=123145"},"modified":"2026-04-07T02:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:00:02","slug":"interview-marshall-pynkoski-jeannette-lajeunesse-zingg-talk-about-opera-ateliers-pelleas-et-melisande","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/04\/06\/interview-marshall-pynkoski-jeannette-lajeunesse-zingg-talk-about-opera-ateliers-pelleas-et-melisande\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Marshall Pynkoski & Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg Talk About Opera Atelier\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bass
Bass Baritone Douglas Williams as Golaud with Artist of Atelier Ballet in Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande (Photo: Bruce Zinger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Opera Atelier’s spring production, the company presents the premiere of Claude Debussy’s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande. Performances take place at Toronto\u2019s Koerner Hall<\/strong> from April 15 to 19, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The production serves as a significant milestone for the company. The 20th century opera represents the most recent work staged in the company\u2019s 40-year history. It redefines the notion of period performance.<\/p>\n

Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande was the only opera Debussy would composer. It\u2019s based on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck, and the story revolves around a prince who is lost in a forest. He discovers a beautiful woman who\u2019s weeping beside a pool of water.<\/p>\n

She draws him into a supernatural world that he cannot escape.<\/p>\n

The work is rich in symbolism and dream-like imagery. LV caught up with Co-Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg to talk about the production.<\/p>\n

\"L:
L: Opera Atelier Co-Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski (Photo: Bruce Zinger; R: Opera Atelier Co-Artistic Director Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Co-Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg: The Interview<\/h2>\n

While the company has performed the music of Debussy at prior events, his Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande will be Opera Atelier\u2019s first full production of the composer\u2019s only opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve been drawn to it for a very, very long time,\u201d says Marshall Pynkoski.<\/p>\n

The company has built a reputation for presenting largely Baroque and Classical operas, but their definition of \u201cperiod production\u201d has developed over the years. \u201cHistorically informed\u201d would be a better description of their current approach.<\/p>\n

Their audience initially had a mixed reaction as their repertoire expanded, even going back to their production of Mozart\u2019s The Magic Flute back in 1991.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people were furious, some were delighted,\u201d Pynkoski recalls. The company got the same kind of feedback after their 2012 production of Der Freisch\u00fctz by C.M. Weber, whose career straddled the late Classical and early Romantic periods.<\/p>\n

Both Pynkosky and Lajeunesse Zingg were drawn to French repertoire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fascinated by French style,\u201d he adds. Both Pynkoski and Lajeunesse Zingg talk about the music, \u201cthe wonderful feathered ends\u201d, and other aspects of Debussy\u2019s Impressionist oeuvre.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, the pair consulted with Jeanne Lamon, then Artistic Director of Tafelmusik, about the possibility of presenting Debussy. The musicians of Tafelmusik, Baroque and period music specialists, perform the accompaniment to OA\u2019s productions.<\/p>\n

Pynkoski recalls her response: \u201cWho would be better equipped to interpret Debussy than an orchestra steeped in French Baroque repertoire?\u201d<\/p>\n

Debussy himself was strongly influenced by the music of French Baroque composers like Couperin and Rameau, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

Their vision of Debussy\u2019s opera took some years to put together, including finding the right cast members. Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande will star French tenor Antonin Rondpierre<\/strong> as Pell\u00e9as, soprano Meghan Lindsay<\/strong> as M\u00e9lisande, baritone Douglas Williams<\/strong> as Golaud, Measha Brueggergosman-Lee<\/strong> as Genevi\u00e8ve, and soprano Cynthia Akemi-Smithers<\/strong> as Yniold. Canadian bass baritone Philippe Sly<\/strong> makes his OA debut as Arkel.<\/p>\n

Marshall doesn\u2019t see OA\u2019s historically informed approach as being at odds with Debussy\u2019s music. \u201cHe has somewhat suffered from people saying […] we must look forward with Debussy,\u201d he says. \u201cBut what are the building blocks of Debussy’s music \u2014 French Baroque.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a big fan of Charpentier,\u201d notes Lajeunesse Zingg.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean downplaying any elements of the music, which is firmly situated in the 20th century. \u201cYou’re in love with the music. People decide that it\u2019s strange \u2014 let’s make it even stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at the roots of Debussy\u2019s music also includes acknowledging that it was originally played on instruments with gut strings, among other details. \u201cThings start to come into focus in a different way,\u201d Pynkoski says. \u201cIt just feels like the right time to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pynkoski says OA slipped a juxtaposition of Charpentier and Debussy into their All Is Love program. \u201cWe opened with the Charpentier, La Nuit,\u201d he recalls. It merged musically into the opening scene of Debussy\u2019s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande. \u201cWe put it into the program, but we didn’t tell anyone. Not a single person said, wait a minute, what was that before the Debussy?\u201d he says. \u201cThey felt like it was an overture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creatively presenting the music of the past is the core of their mandate. \u201cThis is what has driven us in everything,\u201d Marshall says. \u201cWe don’t want to be a museum \u2014 we don\u2019t want to step back in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Audiences want context, and they want to explore the artistry of the work, he says, likening the process of taking Debussy back to its roots to unveiling Michelangelo\u2019s original colours and brushstrokes via restoration. \u201cUltimately, we can look at Michelangelo the same way when we look at, uncovered, what was his original intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bass
Bass Baritone Douglas Williams as Golaud and Soprano Meghan Lindsay as M\u00e9lisande in Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande (Photo: Bruce Zinger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A New Arrangement<\/h3>\n

The production features a brand new arrangement of Debussy\u2019s score by Opera Atelier Music Director Dr. Christopher Bagan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings a transparency to the music,\u201d explains Lajeunesse Zingg. \u201cMarshall and I have always felt that the most brilliant way to listen to Debussy is to listen to his piano music.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she points out, most modern audiences are probably more familiar with orchestral arrangements of Debussy which, however sympathetic to the music, were not created by the composer himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sheer wall of sound that comes at you, I personally feel that [it can] distort,\u201d she adds. \u201cChris Bagan is a great Baroque expert,\u201d she says. He\u2019s also enamoured of modern works, she explains. \u201cHe scored Pell\u00e9as for 14 instruments.\u201d Opera Atelier Resident Music Director David Fallis<\/strong> will lead the ensemble made up of 14 members of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.<\/p>\n

Lajeunesse Zingg recalls their first production of All Is Love back in 2022, with its inclusion of the first scene of Pell\u00e9as. \u201cIt was amazing, the response.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pynkoski mentions Paula Citron\u2019s review in LV<\/a> at the time. \u201cI heard Debussy\u2019s impressionistic score as I had never heard it before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a revelation,\u201d he states. It also allows the vocalists to perform with more subtlety. \u201cWe have singers that we don\u2019t need to push over a 60 to 80 piece orchestra.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, the production can focus on the story and characters along with the music.<\/p>\n

\"Measha
Measha Brueggergosman-Lee costumed as Genevi\u00e8ve in Opera Atelier’s new production of Debussy’s Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande. Costume design by Michael Gianfrancesco (Photo: Bruce Zinger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Production<\/h3>\n

The dancers take up a unique role in the performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it’s a symbolist opera, the dancers are very symbolic,\u201d Jeannette says. One will represent Eros, who pushes the action of the main characters. The others appear more as metaphorical ideas.<\/p>\n

It goes to the heart of the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that fate or destiny drives everything,\u201d Pynkoski says. \u201cThere’s something wonderfully heroic seeing them struggle against it,\u201d he says of the main characters. The dancers flesh out their dream-like state.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one on stage can see the dancers, only the audience,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Along with Debussy\u2019s score, OA interpolates about a few pieces of Baroque music
\ninto the mix. \u201cI think for the most part they are integrated seamlessly,\u201d Lajeunesse Zingg says.<\/p>\n

It allows the dancers to explore both Baroque and modern, impressionistic dance techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want people to feel as though what they see is a dream,\u201d Pynkoski says. As he points out, symbolists deal with interior life. The development of modern symbolism coincided with the rising popularity of Freud and his notions of the unconscious. \u201cInevitably they, and wisely, thought, the only place we can go is inward. \u201c<\/p>\n

In the opera, the forest is a kind of representation of the unconscious. \u201cThat is really truly what we’re trying to do,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe do Debussy’s opera a huge disservice when we turn it into a domestic opera.\u201d<\/p>\n

He advises audiences not to look for logic or the usual elements of linear story in the work. \u201cLet it float over you as a dream,\u201d he says. \u201cThere’s no dramatic arc,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play the scene. We don’t look for a dramatic arc any more than we look for a dramatic arc in our dreams,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As such, multiple interpretations and impressions are not only possible, but encouraged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s what symbolism is supposed to be,\u201d Lajeunesse Zingg explains. The libretto goes along with the music. \u201cIt has that feeling that we have when we hear a story and we only understand it a little bit, and our imaginations fill in the rest,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will look very beautiful and it will sound very beautiful. It has to have the real feeling of being in a fairytale,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While the cast is made up of experienced singers, they\u2019ll bring a fresh approach. \u201cEvery singer is singing it for the first time,\u201d Pynkoski notes.<\/p>\n

\"Soprano
Soprano Meghan Lindsay as M\u00e9lisande with Artists of Atelier Ballet in Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande (Photo: Bruce Zinger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leave Logic Behind<\/h3>\n

Pynkoski quotes French writer Colette. \u201cHow I love things I only half understand,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour imagination can take it and expand it for yourself,\u201d Zingg adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re tying loose ends, you’re imposing your own logic on it,\u201d Pynkoski says. \u201cIt’s nothing but red herrings, for want of a better word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Characters will act in surprising ways, and seemingly contradict what they\u2019ve expressed previously.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are those moments when you think, what??\u201d he laughs. \u201cYou think you’re [seeing] something about people, and then something supernatural happens, and then the story continues as usual. We still have to force ourselves to trust it,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

The opera unfolds scene by scene. \u201cThat\u2019s just how it is,\u201d he says. \u201cDebussy didn’t make a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they were very influenced by fairytales,\u201d adds Lajeunesse Zingg.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to go somewhere else,\u201d Pynkoski says. \u201cThere\u2019s no use in saying trees aren\u2019t purple. Do we really have to go there and explain? Let’s not, let’s just let them be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStop thinking. Don\u2019t think \u2014 just let yourself feel,\u201d Jeannette says. \u201cWe’ve decided to go with the flow.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she points out, that flow does include some funny moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cM\u00e9lisande \u2014 I’m not sure she’s a person,\u201d Lajeunesse Zingg says. \u201cShe’s an idea.\u201d As she points out, after appearing in the story, she\u2019s disoriented, and can\u2019t explain where she\u2019s from. Then, she has a baby out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never have her explain it,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Artist
Artist of Atelier Ballet Eric Da Silva as Eros in Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande (Photo: Bruce Zinger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

The production creates a dreamscape out of Koerner Hall\u2019s stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are transforming Koerner Hall,\u201d Lajeunesse Zingg explains. It includes staircases that add multiple dimensions to the set.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re celebrating the fact that it is a huge, open space, but people will see that space transformed in a really remarkable way.\u201d<\/p>\n