Georges Bizet

Operas Le docteur Miracle (1857) Don Procopio (1859) Les pêcheurs de perles (1863) Ivan IV (1865) La jolie fille de Perth (1867) Djamileh (1872) Carmen (1875) Noé (completion of Halévy opera) (1885)

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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 (Théâtre-Lyrique du Châtelet) 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, Au fond du Temple Saint, one of the most famous in all opera. It is still regularly performed.

Contents 1 Roles 2 Synopsis 2.1 Noted arias 3 Selected recordings 4 Sources 5 External links

[edit] Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 30 September 1863 (Conductor: Adolphe Deloffre)
Zurga, head fisherman	baritone	Jean-Vital Ismaël
Nadir, a fisherman	tenor	François Morini
Leïla, a priestess of Brahma	soprano	Léontine de Maësen
Nourabad, high priest of Brahma	bass	M. Guyat

[edit] Synopsis

The action takes place in Ceylon.

The local fishermen elect Zurga as their leader. Nadir returns to the village, and he and Zurga recall 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 for one another, 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. The opera closes when Zurga is killed on the order of the high priest of Brahman, when he discovers Zurga's plot.

[edit] Noted arias

• "Au fond du temple saint" (Nadir and Zurga, Act 1).
• "Je crois entendre encore" (Nadir, Act 1)
• "Comme autrefois" (Leila)
• "L'orage, s'est calmé" (Zurga, Act 3)

[edit] Selected recordings

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

• 1955 - Janine Micheau, Nicolai Gedda, Ernest Blanc, Jacques Mars - Choeur et Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique, Pierre Dervaux - Angel

• 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

[edit] Sources

• 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

[edit] External links

• Libretto (in French) on WikiSource
• New York Times, "Grand Opera Season to Open with a Novelty", November 12, 1916. Lengthy article previewing the US premiere of Les pêcheurs de perles at the Metropolitan Opera
• New York Times, "Gala Throng Hails Opening of Opera", November 14, 1916. Review of the US premiere with Frieda Hempel (Leila), Enrico Caruso (Nadir), Giuseppe de Luca (Zurga), Leon Rothier (Nourabad), Giorgio Polacco (Conductor)