Lakmé

It is a real treat to see this rarely performed opera by Delibes: particularly since it is in a vintage Australian production from 1976, starring Joan Sutherland. It is probably one of the earliest live, as opposed to mimed, recordings of opera ever made. The film was restored in 1991 and, in the version I saw, the sound quality is good for its age although the picture is a bit fuzzy and it is filmed in squarevision.

Like most people, I only know the so-called flower duet from this opera. It made me suspect that the rest of the opera may be rubbish, but I was quite mistaken. It is full of delicate, sinewy French melodies delivered with an oriental accent. Although the story bears a superficial resemblance to Norma, one of La Stupenda's greatest roles, it makes a strange showcase for the bel canto talents of Joan Sutherland whose stage persona is anything but delicate. Most disappointing is the flower duet where Dame Joan's whooping delivery quite overwhelms Huguette Tourangeau's dainty mezzo voice. More successful is the Bell Song which lets Dame Joan display her impressive coloratura and confident high notes. Henry Wilden plays, Gerard, the English officer who woos the Brahmin maiden Lakmé. He struggles with the role but he does have one exquisite love duet with Sutherland.

The production is absolutely traditional, set in the garden of a temple, an Indian bazaar and a forest glade. I wholly approve of this since, the first time that you see an opera, it is useful to see it as the composer intended. Even as I was watching it, however, I was struck by how suitable this tale of colonial oppression and religious intolerance would be for updating. I know it has become a bit of a cliché to set operas such as Cosí Fan Tutte in a Bangkok lap-dancing club but Lakmé is one opera that could successfully be set in modern-day Bangkok, or Tehran, or Baghdad.