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Musically, the performance is on a level equal to the rest of the production. Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, leading his Los Angeles Philharmonic, brings Boulezian clarity to the score, casting off the cobwebs and illuminating its darkest corners. Cox makes a noble Arkel, while Groop is both angelic and earthy as Melisande, and White achieves tragic status as Golaud. Only Le Roux's bland, dispassionate Pelleas fails to measure up.
Altogether, this is a triumph for the Music Center Opera. Under founder and general director Peter Hemmings and artistic adviser Placido Domingo, the company heads into its 10th anniversary next season with attendance running near capacity and a budget of $16 million. Programming has been a mix of staples, often in provocative stagings (the David Hockney-Jonathan Miller Tristan in 1987), relatively unfamiliar or difficult works (Berg's Wozzeck, Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel) and even a world premiere (Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo).
Next season brings a new Flying Dutchman, directed by the dazzling Julie Taymor in her American opera debut. Hemmings foresees an eventual expansion of the Music Center Opera's schedule to nearly 100 performances a year, which would make it the busiest company in the U.S. after the Metropolitan Opera. The worrisome-to snobbish Easterners-advance of civilization in Los Angeles continues.