This is, in every respect, a model of what a DVD ought to be, a perfect realisation in picture and sound of Debussy’s sole and inspired opera. Peter Stein staged the work for Welsh National Opera in 1992 and won universal praise, as did Pierre Boulez for his conducting.Within austere, wholly appropriate sets, beautifully lit by Jean Kalman, Stein catches the very essence of this singular and elusive piece. Each of the 15 scenes is given its own distinctive decor in which the action is played out on several levels – high for the tower scenes, low for the eerie, subterranean grottoes, for instance. A masterstroke is the subtle evolution from one scene to another in view of the audience, offering a visual counterpoint to the interludes.

On the video, also directed by Stein, we also see the relevant section of the score at the start of each scene. Stein sees that Debussy’s instructions are scrupulously observed. In fact, as a whole, this is an object-lesson in modern staging, which should be learnt by maverick directors, of how to re-interpret an opera within the parameters of the original.

Stein and his collaborators reflect the ebb and flow of crude realism and fragile dream-life that permeate the score, which Boulez has identified as lying at its heart. Director and conductor worked closely with each other over a six-week rehearsal period, something unlikely to occur today, so Boulez’s interpretation is in complete accord with the staging, his musical direction at once direct and luminous, timbres finely balanced one with the other.

The cast also benefited from the long gestation. Alison Hagley catches ideally the paradox that is Mélisande, candour married to duplicity, and sings the enigmatic character with an acute ear for French syllables. Neill Archer, though not quite as responsive to the French language, is a poetic, youthfully ardent Pelléas. Donald Maxwell’s Golaud rightly stands at the centre of the production, conveying guilt, jealousy and self-torment in tellingly intense tones. Kenneth Cox is a grave, world-weary Arkel, Penelope Walker a properly dignified, compassionate Geneviève. The treble singing Yniold is remarkably assured.

The picture and sound are even better than on the VHS and Laserdisc counterparts. Comparison with the Lyon performance conducted by John Eliot Gardiner is hard to make because that version presents a radical departure from the creators’ intentions – very well executed according to its own lights, and certainly more authentically articulated by French singers, yet never quite such a riveting experience as this one.