A passion project of baritone Leon Vitogiannis, the idea of presenting this truncated version of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande crystallised through his work with Étienne Dupuis while participating in the Opera Australia Young Artist Program.

Lana Kains and Leon Vitogiannis in OA’s Scenes from Pelléas et Mélisande. Photo © Justin McLean

It is easy to see why Dupuis would have thought Pelléas a good fit for Vitogiannis. The role demands vocal youthfulness paired with the technical prowess and endurance that usually come with experience.

Vitogiannis has both in spades, conquering the nuanced, speech-inflected vocal line that was written for a Baryton-Martin and sits in the passagio. Vitogiannis rises to the unique challenges this presents with an equally singular approach that avoids obvious use of falsetto, instead applying a burgeoning heroism to his upper register that suggests Pelléas’s emotional and sexual awakening.

This is coupled with an acting performance that successfully conveys the character’s transition from timidity and childlike innocence to a more adult fixation the longer he spends with Mélisande, performed here by soprano Lana Kains.