Lakme
Lakmé is an opera in three acts with music by Léo Delibes and a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, based on the novel Rarahu ou Le Mariage (Rarahu or Marriage), by Pierre Loti (1880). Its world premiere took place at the Teatro de la Opéra-Comique, in Paris, on April 14, 1883. In Spain it premiered on November 13, 1898, at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
History
Creation
Delibes wrote the score in the period 1881-82. It is set in British India in the mid-19th century. The opera includes the famous and popular Flower Duet (Sous le dôme épais) for soprano and mezzo-soprano performed in the first act by the main character, Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her maid Mallika. Another famous aria from The opera is the bell aria (Air des clochettes) in the second act.
Like other French operas of the time, Lakmé captures the atmosphere of the East that was in vogue during the latter part of the century XIX in line with other operatic works such as The Pearl Fishers by Bizet and The King of Lahore by Massenet. The libretto of the opera was written by Gondinet expressly for the American soprano Marie van Zandt.
Representations
It had its first performance on April 14, 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. After its premiere at the Opéra Comique in 1883, Lakmé reached its 500th performance there on June 23, 1909, and its 1,000th performance there on May 13, 1931. A series of performances took place at the Théâtre Gaîté Lyrique de Paris in 1908, with Alice Verlet, David Devriès and Félix Vieuille.
The character of Lakmé has been and is a vehicle for displaying coloratura sopranos such as Amelita Galli-Curci, Lily Pons, Arielle Dombasle, Mado Robin, Mady Mesplé, Maria Callas, Beverly Sills, Joan Sutherland, Edita Gruberová, Natalie Dessay and Sumi Jo, and the Aria of the bells stands out, with virtuoso execution.
This opera is rarely performed; In Operabase statistics it appears as number 129 of the operas performed in 2005-2010, being the 16th in France and the first by Delibes, with 24 performances in the period.
Characters
| Character | Tesitura | Release of the premiere, 14 April 1883 (Director: Jules Danbé) |
|---|---|---|
| Lakmé, a priestess, daughter of Nilakantha | soprano coloratura | Marie van Zandt |
| Gerald, a British army officer | tenor | Jean-Alexandre Talazac |
| Nilakantha, a German priest | Low | Cobalet |
| Frédéric, Official friend of Gérald | Baritone | Barré |
| Mallika, Lakmé slave | Mezzosoprano | Frandin |
| Hadji, slave of Nilakantha | tenor | Chennevière |
| Miss Ellen, Gérald’s fiancée | soprano | Rémy |
| Miss Rose, Ellen's partner | soprano | Molé-Truffier |
| Mistress Bentson, aya | Mezzosoprano | Pierron |
| Guess. ('Un Domben') | tenor | Teste |
| A Chinese merchant | tenor | Davoust |
| Le Kouravar | Baritone | Bernard |
| Chorus: Officers, ladies, traders, brahmanes, musicians | ||
Argument
At the end of the 19th century, during the British colonization of India, many of the local inhabitants were forced to practice his religion in secret.
Gerald, an English officer, accidentally enters a secret Hindu temple. There he meets Lakmé, daughter of Nilakantha, the temple's chief priest. Gerald and Lakmé fall in love instantly. Nilakantha finds out about Gerald's raid on the temple and seeks revenge for the said desecration.
At the bazaar, Nilakantha makes Lakmé sing in order to identify Officer Gerald. Once he recognizes him, Nilakantha stabs him, leaving him badly injured.
Lakmé picks him up and takes him to a hiding place, where she cares for him during his recovery. While Lakmé searches for sacred water to confirm her love for Gerald, his friend the English officer Frederic finds Gerald and reminds him of his duties as a member of the regiment. When Lakmé returns, she realizes that, because of Frederic's words, Gerald has changed and his love has been lost. She prefers to die with honor than to live in heartbreak, and she decides to take her own life by eating a datura leaf. Her father returns and, upon finding them, wants to kill Gerald, but Lakmé tells him that they have both drunk the sacred water and now he is one of them. He dies peacefully.
Featured pieces
This opera highlights the Bell Aria, a workhorse of famous sopranos, and the well-known Flower Duet, from the first act, while Lakmé and Mallika gather flowers in the temple, before meeting Gerald:
Flower Duet
| Original text in French | Spanish version | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Discography
| Year | Elenco (Lakmé, Gérald, Nikalantha, Mallika) | Director, Theatre and orchestra | Record seal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Lily Pons, Armand Tokatyan, Ezio Pinza, Ira Petina | Wilfrid Pelletier, Orchestra and choir of the Metropolitan Opera House of New York | The Golden Age (live) |
| 1952 | Mado Robin, Freedom of Luca, Jacques Jansen, Jean Borthayre, Agnès Disney | Georges Sébastian, Orchestra and choir of the National Theatre of Opéra-Comique | Decca |
| 1955 | Mado Robin, Charles Richard, Pierre Savignol, Agnès Disney, Camille Maurane (Fréderic) | Jules Gressier, Orchestra and choir of the RTF Lirique Radio | Rodolphe |
| 1967 | Joan Sutherland, Alain Vanzo, Gabriel Bacquier, Jane Berbié | Richard Bonynge, Orchestra and choir of the Monte Carlo Opera | Decca |
| 1970 | Mady Mesplé, Charles Burles, Roger Soyer, Danielle Millet | Alain Lombard, Orchestra and choir of Teatro Nacional de la Opéra-Comique | EMI |
| 1998 | Natalie Dessay, Gregory Kunde, José van Dam, Patricia Petibon | Michel Plasson, Orchestra and choir of the Capitol of Toulouse | EMI |