Grand `Lakme': Why is opera so seldom done?
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Opera review
"Lakme" by Leo Delibes, presented by the Seattle Opera at the Seattle Center Opera House, this past Saturday and Sunday, and Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and March 8 and 11.
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It's difficult to say why certain operas go in and out of fashion, but Leo Delibes' "Lakme" is one of those that deserves to be performed much more often than it is these days. The rarity of it makes the Seattle Opera production that opened Saturday night all the more essential to see and hear.
Think of what it has going for it: an exotic eastern setting that lends brilliant visual color to the performance, the ultimate operatic dramatic plot, choruses worthy of Verdi, and arguably the most gorgeous soprano-mezzo duet in all of operatic literature.
For those unfamiliar with the plot (and there may be quite a few in this case) a quick summary might help. A Western soldier travels to the East and falls in love with an innocent and beautiful woman, but alas, their love is not to be, and she takes her own life, dying in his arms. If this sounds like "Madama Butterfly," it is important to note that Delibes' opera predates Puccini's by 20 years. In "Lakme," the woman in question (and the title character) is a Brahmin priestess with a protective and vengeful father, and the man is a British colonial officer.
But on to the once and future events in Seattle's own opera house. So much goes right in this production, from the principal singers to the lighting design and everything in between, that this show becomes irresistible.
Harolyn Blackwell is a wonderfully lyrical and enchanting Lakme. The role requires enormous dramatic persuasion (she's a princess, remember, and desir-able enough to die for) as well as tremendous vocal flexibility (the famous "Bell Song" goes up into the Queen of the Night range). Tenor Vinson Cole, that international shining star who still manages to be a Seattle Opera mainstay, is wonderful as Gerald, the British officer torn between love and duty.
Saturday night also saw the Seattle Opera debuts of more than one fine artist. Shanghai-born baritone Ding Gao was incredibly powerful as the jealous father Nilikantha. And for French-born conductor Patrick Fournillier, who was nothing short of magical in his leadership of the orchestra, this was not only his Seattle Opera debut, but his United States debut. Maestro Fournillier brought with him a wealth of experience with this very opera, as well as masterful control of the musical forces.
In many ways, "Lakme" is a textbook example of why opera is meant to be seen live on stage, rather than just heard on recordings. Recordings are meant to remind us of the productions we've seen, and among the memories now being generated are the rich colors of the costumes (by Pasquale Grossi) and the lighting, designed by Tony Award-winner Neil Peter Jampolis. The set, designed for the New Orleans Opera, was said to be in questionable physical shape when the Seattle Opera got hold of it. You'd never know by looking, and it was the lighting work of Jampolis that made it gorgeous.
It is also difficult to see on a recording the beautiful dance work. Delibes, primarily a ballet composer, included a delicious and satisfying dance sequence in Act 2. The tight ensemble work is a joy to behold and principal dancer Alice Yearsley is simply a knockout.
Choreographer and stage director Stephen Terrell not only did a brilliant job with the dance numbers and the direction in general, but added a memorable touch of dramatic ambiguity to the end of the opera, leaving Gerald teetering on the edge of life and death.
In short, this is a wonderful production of a wonderful opera. Its relative obscurity compared with the Mozart and Rossini blockbusters this season should keep no one away from this rich theatrical and musical experience.