Lakmé

• Delibes’s Lakmé premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on April 14, 1883. 
• Delibes composed this opera as a vehicle for American soprano Marie van Zandt, who had recently rocketed to stardom in Thomas’s Mignon. 
• Lakmé is inspired by the novel Raharu (alternately titled The Marriage of Loti) by Pierre Loti. The exoticism of the story’s setting was an attraction for Delibes; exotic or vaguely Asian locations were popular in French opera at the time, especially after the success of Bizet’s Pearl Fishers. 
  • Lakmé is set in British colonial India; it concerns a love story between a British officer and the daughter of a Hindu priest.¹

The Flower Duet

• This famous duet, “Sous le dôme épais,” is sung by Lakmé (soprano) and her servant Mallika (mezzo soprano) as they gather jasmine and roses by a river. 

Short synopsis from NPR

1. Hugh Macdonald, “Lakmé,” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed February 4, 2022, www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000005082.