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

The score, written from 1881–1882, 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 I), Eugène Louis Carpezat and (Joseph-)Antoine Lavastre (Act II), and
Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Act III). Set in British India in the mid-19th century, Lakmé is based on
Théodore Pavie's story "Les babouches du Brahamane" and novel Le Mariage de Loti by Pierre
Loti.[1]

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.

In contrast to other French operas of the period, such as Bizet's The Pearl Fishers and Massenet's
Le roi de Lahore.[3], Lakmé does more than simply capture the ambience of the Orient seen
through Western eyes. The subject of the opera - which has a contemporary setting - is in fact the
colonialism of the British army in India, focusing on their poor attitudes towards Indian cultural
systems and the Hindu religion. It was suggested by Gondinet as a vehicle for the American
soprano Marie van Zandt.[2]

The Indian fashion brand Lakmé, established in 1952 by the Tata Group and now owned by
Hindustan Unilever, is named after the opera.

Contents
Performance history
Roles
Synopsis
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Music
Musical numbers
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3

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Recordings
In film
References
External links

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.[4]

Roles
Premiere cast,[4]
14 April 1883
Role Voice type
(Conductor: Jules
Danbé)

Lakmé, a priestess, coloratura

Marie van Zandt
daughter of Nilakantha soprano

Gérald, a British army Jean-Alexandre

tenor
officer Talazac

Nilakantha, a Brahmin
bass Cobalet
priest

Frédéric, officer friend of

baritone Barré
Gérald

mezzo-
Mallika, slave of Lakmé Elisa Frandin
soprano

Hadji, slave of Nilakantha tenor Chennevière

Miss Ellen, fiancée of

soprano Rémy
Gérald

Miss Rose, companion of

soprano Molé-Truffier
Ellen

Mistress Bentson, a mezzo- Jean-Alexandre Talazac as Gérald

Pierron
governess soprano

Fortune teller (Un

tenor Teste
Domben)

A Chinese merchant tenor Davoust

Le Kouravar baritone Bernard

Chorus: Officers, ladies, merchants, Brahmins, musicians

Synopsis

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Place: India
Time: Late nineteenth century during the British Raj. Many Hindus have been forced by the
British to practise their religion in secret.

Act 1
The Hindus go to perform their rites in a sacred Brahmin temple under the high priest, Nilakantha.
Nilakantha's daughter Lakmé (which derives from the Sanskrit Lakshmi) and her servant Mallika
are left behind and go down to the river to gather flowers where they sing the "Flower Duet". As
they approach the water at the river bank, Lakmé removes her jewelry and places it on a bench. A
party of British officers, Frederic and Gérald, arrive nearby while on a picnic with two British girls
and their governess. The British girls see the jewelry and request sketches; Gérald volunteers to
stay and make sketches of the jewelry. He sees 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 intrigued and so she sends away
those who had responded to her call for help when they come to her rescue. Lakmé and Gérald
begin to fall in love with each other. Nilakantha returns and learns of the British officer's
trespassing and vows revenge on him for his affront to Lakmé's honor.

Act 2
At a 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 nurses
him back to health.

Act 3
While Lakmé fetches sacred water that will confirm the vows of the lovers, Fréderic, a fellow
British officer, appears before Gérald and reminds him of his duty to his regiment. After Lakmé
returns, she senses the change in Gérald and realises that she has lost him. She dies with honour,
rather than live with dishonor, killing herself by eating the poisonous datura leaf.

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.[5] 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.[3]

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 "Dov'e l'indiana bruna?", 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.[6] The aria sung

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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.[7]

Musical numbers
Prelude

Act 1

No. 1 Introduction: "À l'heure accoutumée (At the usual

time)" (Nilakantha)
Prière: "Blanche Dourga (White Durga)" (Lakmé,
Nilakantha)
No. 1 Bis – Scène: "Lakmé, c'est toi qui nous protège!
Original poster for Lakmé
(Lakmé, it is you who protect us!)" (Nilakantha, Lakmé)
No. 2 – Duetto (The Flower Duet): "Viens, Mallika, les
lianes en fleurs ... Dôme épais, le jasmin (Come Mallika, the lianas in bloom ... The jasmine
forms a dense dome)" (Lakmé, Mallika)
Scène: "Miss Rose, Miss Ellen" (Gérald)
No. 3 – Quintette & couplets: "Quand une femme est si jolie (When a woman is so pretty)"
(Gérald)
Récitatif: "Nous commettons un sacrilège (We are committing sacrilege)" (Gérald)
No. 4 – Air: "Prendre le dessin d'un bijou (Make a drawing of a jewel)" (Gérald)
No. 4 Bis – Scène: "Non! Je ne veux pas toucher (No! I do not want to touch)" (Gérald, Lakmé)
No. 5 – Récitatif & Strophes: "Les fleurs me paraissent plus belles (The flowers appear more
beautiful to me)" (Lakmé)
No. 5 Bis – Récitatif: "Ah! Mallika! Mallika!" (Lakmé)
No. 6 – Duo: "D'où viens-tu? Que veux-tu? (Where are you from? What do you want?)"
(Lakmé, Gérald)
No. 6 Bis – Scène: "Viens! Là! Là! (Come! There! There!)" (Nilakantha, Lakmé)

Act 2

Entr'acte
No. 7 – Choeur & Scène du marche: "Allons, avant que midi sonne (Come before noon
sounds)"
No. 7 Bis – Récitatif: "Enfin! Nous aurons du silence! (Finally! We will have silence!)"
No. 8 – Airs de danse: Introduction
No. 8 – Airs de danse: Terana
No. 8 – Airs de danse: Rektah
No. 8 – Airs de danse: Persian
No. 8 – Airs de danse: Coda avec Choeurs
No. 8 – Airs de danse: Sortie

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Récitatif: "Voyez donc ce vieillard (So see that old man)"

No. 9 – Scène & Stances: "Ah! Ce vieillard encore! (Ah! That old man again!)" (Nilankantha,
Lakmé)
No. 9 Bis – Récitatif: "Ah! C'est de ta douleur (Ah! It's your pain)" (Lakmé, Nilankantha)
No. 10 – Scène & Légende de la fille du Paria (Air des Clochettes/The Bell Song):
"Ah!... Par les dieux inspires... Où va la jeune Hindoue (Ah... Inspired by the gods...
Where is the Hindu girl going)" (Lakmé, Nilankantha)
No. 11 – Scène: "La rage me dévore (Rage consumes me)" (Nilankantha, Lakmé)
No. 12 – Scène & Choeur: "Au milieu des chants d'allegresse (Amid chants of cheerfulness)"
(Nilankantha, Lakmé)
No. 12 Bis – Récitatif: "Le maître ne pense qu'à sa vengeance (The master thinks only of his
revenge)"
No. 13 – Duo: "Lakmé! Lakmé! C'est toi! (Lakmé! Lakmé! It's you!)" (Lakmé, Gérald)
No. 14 – Finale: "O Dourga, toi qui renais (O Durga, you who are reborn)" (Gérald)

Act 3
Entr'acte
No. 15 – Berceuse: "Sous le ciel tout étoilé (Beneath the star-filled sky)" (Lakmé)
No. 15 Bis – Récitatif: "Quel vague souvenir alourdit ma pensée? (What vague memory weighs
down my thought?)" (Gérald, Lakmé)
No. 16 – Cantilène: "Lakmé! Lakmé! Ah! Viens dans la forêt profonde (Lakmé! Lakmé! Ah!
Come into the deep forest)" (Gérald)
No. 17 – Scène & Choeur: "Là, je pourrai t'entendre (There I will be able to hear you)" (Lakmé,
Gérald)
No. 18 – Scène: "Vivant! (Alive!)" (Gérald)
No. 19 – Duo: "Ils allaient deux à deux (They went two by two)" (Lakmé, Gérald)
No. 20 – Finale: "C'est lui! C'est lui! (It's him! It's him!)" (Nilankantha, Lakmé, Gérald)

Recordings
1940: Lily Pons (Lakmé), Armand Tokatyan (Gérald), Ezio Pinza (Nilakantha), Ira Petina
(Mallika), New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Wilfrid Pelletier (conductor)
(The Golden Age; live)
1952: Mado Robin (Lakmé), Libero de Luca (Gérald), Jacques Jansen (Frédéric), Jean
Borthayre (Nilakantha), Agnés Disney (Mallika), Chœurs et Orchestre du Théâtre National de
l'Opéra-Comique, Georges Sébastian (conductor) (Decca)
1967: Joan Sutherland (Lakmé), Alain Vanzo (Gérald), Gabriel Bacquier (Nilakantha), Jane
Berbié (Mallika), Chœurs et Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte Carlo, Richard Bonynge
(conductor) (Decca)
1970: Mady Mesplé (Lakmé), Charles Burles (Gérald), Roger Soyer (Nilakantha), Danielle
Millet (Mallika), Chœurs et Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique, Alain Lombard
(conductor) (EMI)
1998: Natalie Dessay (Lakmé), Gregory Kunde (Gérald), José van Dam (Nilakantha), Delphine
Haidan (Mallika), Chœur et Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson (conductor)
(EMI)

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2012: Emma Matthews (Lakmé), Aldo di Toro (Gérald), Stephen Bennett (Nilakantha), Opera
Australia Chorus and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Emmanuel Joel-Hornak
(conductor) (Opera Australia OPOZ56021BD (Blu-ray), OPOZ56020DVD (DVD),
OPOZ56022CD)

In film
In 1935 film I Dream Too Much, Lily Pons sings the excerpt from the Bell Song.[8]
In 2016 biographical film Florence Foster Jenkins, Lily Pons (portrayed by Aida Garifullina)
sings the Bell Song.[9]

References
Notes

1. Charles P. D. Cronin and Betje Black Klier (1996), "Théodore Pavie's "Les babouches du
Brahmane" and the Story of Delibes's Lakmé", Opera Quarterly 12 (4): 19–33.
2. "Lakmé by Leo Delibes" on npr.org (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101
12052) Retrieved 15 January 2011
3. MacDonald H., "Lakmé", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, London and New York:
Macmillan: 1997.
4. Wolff S. Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique. André Bonne, Paris, 1953.
5. Lacombe H., The Keys to French Opera in the Nineteenth Century, Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 2001.
6. For example, The Hunger " 'Horror! – Monsters, Witches & Vampires (Soundtrack)' " (https://ww
w.amazon.com/dp/B000004BRH). Silva America.
7. "British Airways - Face" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115900/http://www.splendad.co
m/ads/show/1825-British-Airways-Face). SplendAd. Archived from the original (http://www.sple
ndad.com/ads/show/1825-British-Airways-Face) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
8. Sennwald, Andre (29 November 1935). "Lily Pons Makes Her Debut in 'I Dream Too Much,' at
the Music Hall -- 'In Old Kentucky.' " (https://www.nytimes.com/1935/11/29/archives/lily-pons-m
akes-her-debut-in-i-dream-too-much-at-the-music-hall-in.html). The New York Times. Retrieved
21 October 2019.(subscription required)
9. "Watch Aida Garifullina perform the Bell Song, from Florence Foster Jenkins" (https://www.theg
uardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/may/17/watch-aida-garifullina-perform-the-bell-song-from-fl
orence-foster-jenkins). The Guardian. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2019.

External links
Lakmé: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
Lakmé in films (https://web.archive.org/web/20090724003355/http://www.donaldfagen.com/writi
ng_items.php?itemID=22). Essay by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan about the use of music from
the opera

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