Delibes: Lakmé
by Norman Ayrton
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Actor: Huguette Tourangeau, Isobel Buchanan, Jennifer Bermingham, Joan Sutherland, Rosina RaisbeckDirector: Norman Ayrton
Brand: Kultur
Performer: Richard Bonynge
Performer: The Australian Opera Chorus
Writer: Léo Delibes
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 154 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video
DVD Reviews of Delibes: Lakmé
DVD Review: Delibes, Sutherland...that's all you need to know
Summary: 4 Stars
While this production of Lakme is far from perfect, the opportunity to see a rarely performed work of extreme lyrical beauty featuring the great Joan Sutherland in one of her signature roles is more than enough justification for purchasing the DVD.
Lakme is an unfairly neglected opera, more known for its showpieces than for the work as a whole, and it is difficult to understand why. Personally, I think audiences would take to this score, which is chockful of memorable melodies and is obviously influenced by Bizet, because of its post-Carmen sound(especially apparent in the orchestration) mixed with the exoticism that was so popular in French opera at that time. Granted, Lakme lacks the depth of Carmen, the uniqueness, the sheer untethered ingenuity, not to mention the standout characters, and the romantic connection here seems forced and unconvincing. Basically, it's all about the music, but what music. Lakme might be fluff, but fluff has seldom sounded better.
The title role is a great one for any dramatic lyrical soprano, since the Indian princess is onstage for much of the opera and is given a plethora of lovely music, from the well-known Bell Song and Flower Duet to some very moving introspective arias(my personal favorite is Act Three's Sous le ciel tour etoile...just devastating) to a couple of long winding love duets, finally to a dramatic death scene. Basically, Lakme is the soprano's baby all the way, a showcase for a true diva, and Dame Joan Sutherland is a diva-and-a-half.
This production was obviously done with the intention of promoting her above everything else. The performance is by the Australian Opera, where Sutherland is both a beloved native and a familiar presence, practically royalty, and it is led by her doting husband Richard Bonynge who conducts with loving attention to her voice. The supporting cast, lacking any big names, is serviceable but unspectacular(the inconsistent tenor gets an understandably tepid response from the audience during his curtain call), as though the powers that be were careful not to cast anyone who might upstage Dame Joan. This makes for a less fulfilling performance overall. Still, if you are going to revolve a whole production around a single performer, you can't do better than Joan Sutherland, and the diva doesn't disappoint.
This was done in the mid-70's when Dame Joan was probably a few years past her prime, yet you would hardly know it based on her performance; the only weakness I could detect was the occasional tendency not to sustain some of the high notes for as long as she would have in her youth. Otherwise, the voice, that incredible voice, is still there, in all its power and glory, in all its heartbreaking beauty. Sutherland has never been known for her physical pulchritude, or for her acting ability, her main strength, aside from that distinctive voice, is a little thing called presence. Here she is as regal, as feminine, as strong-willed, as powerful, as larger-than-life as ever.
Bonynge has a reputation for being a by-the-numbers conductor, and that is in evidence here. He brings out the score's inherent beauty, but loses much of the passion(his reading from the '60's for Decca Records, also with his wife, is better, more definitive, but he is helped along by an abler cast). The production is pretty and colorful, appropriately atmospheric and exotic(giving a real sense of place) if a bit crowded for the somewhat compact stage. The picture and sound quality are superior for a broadcast from that era.
Vanity projects don't often succeed, but this is an exception. It helps to have a centerpiece with the chops of Joan Sutherland. And to have the lovely music of Leo Delibes, of course.
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Description of Delibes: Lakmé
Delibes' story is set in India in the mid-19th century when the British were imposing a suppressive rule over the many religious sects. Nilakantha, the leader of one of these forbidden sects, is secretly bringing up his daughter Lakmé as a priestess, to be worshipped as divine by his followers. He keeps her isolated in a temple which he has surrounded with a bamboo stockade, declaring the temple and garden to be sacred ground."Lakmé was a warm affirmation that Joan Sutherland is not only a great star, but she is a sensitive and subtle artist..." The Financial Review
Featuring: Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, Henri Wilden, The Australian Opera Chorus, The Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge.
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