Beauty during pandemic: Lakmé “Duo des fleurs”

The “Flower Duet” (French: “Duo des fleurs”) is a famous duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano from Léo Delibes’ opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in act 1 of the three-act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river.

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“Duo des Fleurs”- Sabine Devieilhe & Marianne Crebassa

Soprano Sabine Devieilhe’s signature operatic role, Lakmé, forms the starting point for her enticing album Mirages. A collection of opera and song in French, its theme is the exotic allure of faraway – and imagined – places and people. In addition to three numbers from Delibes’ opera, it features music by Berlioz, Debussy and Stravinsky and some rarer names: Thomas, Messager, Koechlin and Delage. Devieilhe is joined by mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa, pianist Alexandre Tharaud and the period-instrument orchestra Les Siècles under its founder, François-Xavier Roth.