Lakmé

Uncommon card · No. 146420

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 Le Mariage de Loti (1880) by Pierre Loti. Gondinet proposed it as a vehicle for the American soprano Marie van Zandt. The opera's most famous aria is the "Bell Song" ("L'Air des clochettes") in act 2. The opera includes the popular "Flower Duet" ("Dôme épais le jasmin") for a soprano and mezzo-soprano, performed in act 1 by Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika. The name Lakmé is the French rendition of Sanskrit Lakshmi...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Antonin Chatinière (1828-?), published by Heugel (Paris), Public domain