Post Description

Léo Delibes: Lakmé
Dame Joan Sutherland, Alain Vanzo, Gabriel Bacquier, Jane Berbié
Monte Carlo Opera Chorus & Orchestra olv. Richard Bonynge.

Delibes's opera Lakmé is full of gorgeous melodies, even if you don't count the coloratura sensation, the famous "Bell Song." That aria virtually demands a soprano of Sutherland's agility and ease, and it gets it here. Even the few singers who can match her in the upper altitudes can't do it with a voice so rich and full. Sutherland's is a Lakmé beyond comparison with twittering, thin-voiced, coloratura specialists. She did make this recording at a time when her diction was mushy and her vocal lines sometimes drooped, so she's not beyond criticism. But revel in the voice; after all, Lakmé is a cardboard character, and the opera, for all its considerable charms, isn't another Ring cycle. Sutherland's colleagues are excellent, too. Vanzo was one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation and is by far the best Gérald on disc. Jane Berbié and Gabriel Bacquier are also unmatched, and Bonynge's conducting is idiomatic and flowing. Add engineering from Decca/London's golden age of recording, and here's a Lakmé to treasure. --Dan Davis