Lakmé Explained

Lakmé
Composer:Léo Delibes
Image Upright:1.2
Librettist:
Language:French
Based On:Théodore Pavie's story "Les babouches du Brahmane" and Pierre Loti's novel Le Mariage de Loti
Premiere Location:Opéra-Comique, Paris

Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille.

The score, written from 1881 to 1882, was first performed on 14 April 1883 by the Opéra-Comique at the (second) Salle Favart in Paris, with stage decorations designed by Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (act 1), Eugène Carpezat and (Joseph-) Antoine Lavastre (act 2), and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (act 3). Set in British India in the mid-19th century, Lakmé is based on Théodore Pavie's story "Les babouches du Brahmane" (1849) and the novel French: [[Le Mariage de Loti]] (1880) by Pierre Loti.[1] Gondinet proposed it as a vehicle for the American soprano Marie van Zandt.

The opera includes the popular "Flower Duet" ("Sous le dôme épais") for a soprano and mezzo-soprano, performed in act 1 by Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika.[2] The name Lakmé is the French rendition of Sanskrit Lakshmi, the name of the Hindu Goddess of Wealth. The opera's most famous aria is the "Bell Song" ("L'Air des clochettes") in act 2.

Lakmé combines many orientalist aspects that were popular at the time:[3] an exotic location, similar to other French operas of the period, such as Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles and Massenet's Le roi de Lahore, a fanatical priest, mysterious Hindu rituals, and "the novelty of exotically colonial English people".[4]

Performance history

Following its premiere at the Opéra-Comique in 1883, Lakmé reached its 500th performance there on 23 June 1909 and 1,000th on 13 May 1931. A series of performances took place at the Théâtre Gaîté Lyrique Paris in 1908, with Alice Verlet, David Devriès and Félix Vieuille.[5]

Roles

!Role!Voice type!Premiere cast, 14 April 1883
Conductor: Jules Danbé
Lakmé, a priestess, daughter of Nilakanthacoloratura sopranoMarie van Zandt
Gérald, a British army officertenorJean-Alexandre Talazac
Nilakantha, a Brahmin priestbassCobalet
Frédéric, officer friend of GéraldbaritoneBarré
Mallika, slave of Lakmémezzo-sopranoElisa Frandin
Hadji, slave of NilakanthatenorChennevière
Miss Ellen, fiancée of GéraldsopranoRémy
Miss Rose, companion of EllensopranoZoé Molé-Truffier
Mistress Bentson, a governessmezzo-sopranoPierron
Fortune teller (Un Domben)tenorTeste
A Chinese merchanttenorDavoust
Le KouravarbaritoneBernard
Chorus: Officers, ladies, merchants, Brahmins, musicians

Synopsis

Place: India

Time: Late nineteenth century, during the British Raj.

Act 1

The Hindus go to perform their rites in a sacred Brahmin temple under the high priest, Nilakantha. Nilakantha's daughter Lakmé, and her servant Mallika, are left behind and go down to the river to gather flowers where they sing together the "Flower Duet". As they approach the water at the river bank, Lakmé removes her jewellery and places it on a bench. Two British officers, Frédéric and Gérald (Delibes uses Frenchified versions of the then common English names Frederick and Gerald), arrive nearby on a picnic with two British girls and their governess. The British girls see the jewellery and, impressed with it, request sketches of it; Gérald volunteers to stay and make sketches of the jewellery. He spots Lakmé and Mallika returning and hides. Mallika leaves Lakmé for a while; while alone Lakmé sees Gérald and, frightened by the foreigner's incursion, cries out for help. However, simultaneously, she is also intrigued by him and so she sends away those who had responded to her call for help when they come to her aid. Lakmé and Gérald begin to fall in love with each other. Nilakantha returns and learns of the British officer's trespassing, vowing revenge on him for what he assumes to be an affront to Lakmé's honour.

Act 2

At a busy bazaar, Nilakantha forces Lakmé to sing (the "Bell Song") in order to lure the trespasser into identifying himself. When Gérald steps forward, Lakmé faints, thus giving him away. Nilakantha stabs Gérald, wounding him. Lakmé takes Gérald to a secret hideout in the forest, where she lovingly nurses him back to health.

Act 3

In the forest, Lakmé and Gérald hear singing in the distance. Gérald is frightened, but Lakme tells him that the singers are a group of lovers that seek out the water of a magical spring. When drank, the water grants eternal love to the couple. While Lakmé fetches water that will confirm the vows of the lovers, Fréderic, Gérald's fellow British officer, appears and reminds him of his military duty to his regiment. Gérald sadly accepts that his colleague is correct. After Lakmé returns, she senses the change in Gérald and realises that she has lost him. Rather than to live with dishonor, she tears a leaf from a poisonous datura tree and bites into it. She tells Gérald what she has just done and they drink the water together. Nilakantha finds their hut and enters as Lakmé is dying. She tells her father that she and Gérald drank from the magical spring. In that instant, she dies.

Music

In conventional form and pleasant style, but given over to the fashion for exoticism, the delicate orchestration and melodic richness earned Delibes a success with audiences.[6] The passionate elements of the opera are given warm and expressive music, while the score in general is marked by subtle harmonic colours and deft orchestration. Oriental colour is used in prayers, incantations, dances and the scene in the market.

The act 2 aria "Où va la jeune Hindoue?" (the Bell Song) has long been a favourite recital piece for coloratura sopranos. (Recordings of it in Italian, as "Italian: Dov'è l'indiana bruna?|italic=no", also exist.)

In recent years, the Flower Duet in act 1 has become familiar more widely because of its use in advertisements, in particular a British Airways commercial,[2] as well as in films.[7] The duet sung by Lakme and Mallika was adapted for the theme "Aria on air" for the British Airways "face" advertisements of the 1980s by music composers Yanni and Malcolm McLaren.[8]

Musical numbers

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Recordings

Audio

Video

In film

External links

Notes and References

  1. Charles P. D. Cronin and Betje Black Klier (1996), "Théodore Pavie's 'Les babouches du Brahmane' and the Story of Delibes's Lakmé", The Opera Quarterly 12 (4): 19–33.
  2. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10112052 "Lakmé by Leo Delibes"
  3. Huebner. Steven. 1883. Lakmé, genre et orientalisme. Nouvelle Histoire de la Musique en France (1870–1950). fr. March 12, 2020.
  4. Encyclopedia: MacDonald. Hugh. Hugh Macdonald (musicologist). Lakmé. 2002. Grove Music Online. 10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005082.
  5. Wolff, Stéphane. Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique. André Bonne, Paris, 1953.
  6. [Hervé Lacombe|Lacombe, Hervé]
  7. For example, The Hunger Web site: Horror! – Monsters, Witches & Vampires (Soundtrack). Silva America.
  8. Web site: British Airways – Face . SplendAd . 26 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115900/http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/1825-British-Airways-Face . 2 April 2015 . dead .
  9. https://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLSISUTH.HTM#122 "Joan Sutherland, Lakmé
  10. News: Sennwald. Andre. Andre Sennwald. Lily Pons Makes Her Debut in I Dream Too Much, at the Music Hall – In Old Kentucky. 21 October 2019 . The New York Times. 29 November 1935.
  11. Book: Lents, Robert J.. 2014. Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir. 42. McFarland. 9780786487226.
  12. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/soundtrack "The Hunger soundtrack"
  13. News: Watch Aida Garifullina perform the Bell Song, from Florence Foster Jenkins . 21 October 2019 . The Guardian. 17 May 2016.

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