Les pêcheurs de perles

"Les pêcheurs de perles" ("The Pearl Fishers") is an opera in three acts by Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. Bizet's most successful opera apart from Carmen, it is notable for its colorful and exotic orchestration, and for its great friendship duet, one of the most famous in all opera. It is still regularly performed.

Roles

ynopsis

The action takes place in Ceylon.

The local fishermen elect Zurga as their leader. Nadir returns to the village, and he and Zurga recall at how their friendship was once threatened when they both fell in love with an unknown priestess. They swear eternal friendship. The priestess Leila arrives for a vigil of prayer for the safety of the fishermen, and Nadir recognizes her as the woman he and Zurga had loved. In the night, he goes to her and they acknowledge their love, but they are caught by the high priest Nourabad. For breaking her vow of chastity, she and Nadir are condemned to death. Zurga, feeling jealous and betrayed, discovered that in the past Leila had saved his life, and sets fire to the village to allow the two lovers to escape.

Noted arias

* "Au fond du Temple Saint" (Nadir & Zurga, Act 1).
* "Je crois entendre encore" (Nadir, Act 1)
* "Comme autre fois" (Leila)
* "L'orage, s'est calmé" (Zurga, Act 3)

elected recordings

* 1953 - Pierrette Alarie, Léopold Simoneau, René Bianco, Xavier Dupraz - Choeurs Elisabeth Brasseur, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Jean Fournet - PHILIPS

* 1960 - Janine Micheau, Nicolai Gedda, Ernest Blanc, Jacques Mars - Choeur et Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique, Pierre Dervaux - EMI

* 1977 - Ileana Cotrubas, Alain Vanzo, Guillermo Sarabia, Roger Soyer - Choeur et Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre - EMI

* 1989 - Barbara Hendricks, John Aler, Gino Quilico, Jean-Philippe Courtis - Choeur et Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson - EMI

ources

* "The Complete Dictionary of Opera and Operetta", James Anderson, (Wings Books, 1993) ISBN 0-517-09156-9

* "The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera", edited by Paul Gruber, (W.W. Norton & Company, 1993) ISBN 0-393-03444-5