Organization

Singer

Soprano

Olga Pudova

Lakme

Tenor

Alexander Mikhailov

Gerald

Baritone

Egor Chubakov

Frederic

Bass

Andrei Serov

Nilakantha

Choreographer

Alexander Sergeyev

Lighting designer

Vadim Brodsky

Video designer

Vadim Dulenko

Costume designer

Antonina Shestakova-Reimers

Chorus master

Rustam Sagdiev

Training on stage of the young singers of the academy

Isabelle Partiot-Pieri

Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre

French

Lakmé

Saint Petersburg

Russia

Mariinsky Theatre

Lakmé Delibes

Public

Russian

Approved

Lakmé (1883), opera in three acts by Léo Delibes
Gérald's air: "Prendre le dessin d'un bijou" (Make a drawing of a jewel)
Gérald — Alexander Mikhailov
Conductor — Christian Knapp

Mise en scènes: Isabelle Partiot-Pieri
Recorded at the premiere of the production on July 4, 2021, Mariinsky theatre
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A beguiling flower of French Romantic opera, Léo Delibes' Lakmé remains on the peripheries of the international operatic repertoire and is known to many thanks only to its famous Flower Duet and the soprano's Bell Song aria. Outside France, it is rarely staged today. Lakmé is the jewel in the crown and the pride of Paris' Opéra-Comique, where it was first performed on 14 April 1883 and where it went on to enjoy an unbroken run of some eighty years. The first performer of the role of Lakmé was the American Marie van Zandt. It was also she who appeared in the St Petersburg premiere of Lakmé the following season (the opera was staged by the Imperial Italian Company). Van Zandt's staggering debut in Paris in Ambroise Thomas' opera Mignon resulted in the playwright Edmond Gondinet's writing a new work especially for her. His choice fell on a plot by Pierre Loti, a sailor and author of adventure novels about heroes in exotic lands. Taking Loti's novel Rarahu as a basis, Gondinet and Philippe Gille, another poet of opera, produced a libretto which was presented to Delibes – the latter by that time having already composed the popular ballets Coppélia and Sylvia.
The plot of Lakmé unfolds in colonial India in the late 19th century. Two lovers, a soprano and a tenor, are representatives of two different civilisations. The British army officer Gérald is captivated by the beauty of the priestess Lakmé, while Lakmé is drawn to her fervent speech. However, in accordance with the laws of Romanticism, their dream is fated not to come true: having poisoned herself with a toxic flower, Lakmé dies in the arms of her beloved. The plot in exotic surroundings was nothing new for French musical theatre: Delibes was following in the footsteps of Bizet's Les Pêcheurs des perles, Meyerbeer's L'Africaine, Massenet's Le Roi de Lahore and, if one goes back a century more, by Rameau's Les Indes galantes. The musical material of Lakmé is woven from extremely tender and poetic cantilena and the watercolour orchestration, which flows with refined colours and intonations. The ariosos and duets of the protagonists are framed by Hindu prayers and ceremonies, dances of bayadères and a trading scene. In Act I a group of curious Europeans secretly observes the home of the priest Nilakantha and have a friendly wager as to whether women everywhere are always similar or whether they differ.
Over the years, at the Opéra-Comique the role of the Indian beauty has been sung by Lily Pons, Mado Robin, Mady Mesplé, Natalie Dessay and Sabine Devieilhe. Among acclaimed Russian singers to have appeared in productions of Lakmé are the names of Antonina Nezhdanova, Leonid Sobinov (as Gérald), Fyodor Chaliapin (as Nilakantha), Elena Katulskaya, Irina Maslennikova and Valeria Barsova. Following the Mariinsky Theatre's 1884 production by the Italian Opera, Lakmé was staged again in 1903, 1916 and 1931.

There is at least one highlight from Léo Delibes’ opera Lakmé that everybody knows: when two enchanting Hindu girls who have set out to gather lotus blossoms sing the Flower Duet, audiences always sense a thrill of recognition. Like pollen, this charming melody has been variously dispersed in advertisements and soundtracks, though Delibes was generous in refrains that caress the ears and which cede nothing at all to this popular “hit”, and for their sake it is worth listening to the opera in its entirety. In addition to the famous Duo des fleurs, from the stage one can hear passionate duets declaring love, heartfelt arias, enigmatic choral supplications, striking dance melodies of temple dancers and even vaudeville couplets. the lynchpin of the opera is Lakmé’s unbelievably virtuoso aria with the bells, which requires a fantastically supple voice and crystal-pure intonation for the impossibly high notes. the orchestra in Lakmé is magnificent: at times it renders delicate support to the soloists, at others it “sings” together with them, it creates almost tangible images of delightful tropical nature and it paints a colourful scene of a crowded bazaar. the love story of a British officer and the daughter of a Brahmin concludes sadly, as per the laws of the genre, and even though particularly sensitive members of the audience may well wipe away a tear at the finale, the romantic opera Lakmé leaves a bright impression that is rare indeed.

Lakmé returned to the playbill of the Mariinsky Theatre in the autumn of 2020, when a concert performance took place. To stage this masterpiece of French opera, the theatre has invited Frenchwoman Isabelle Partiot-Pieri, who is both the production’s stage director and set designer.

English

Lakmé by Delibes, From (2022/2022), Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Russia

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