Les pêcheurs de perles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

Operas by Georges Bizet
Les pêcheurs de perles (1863) La jolie fille de Perth (1867) Djamileh (1872) Carmen (1875) Noé (completion of Halévy opera) (1885)
v • d • e

Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) (I Pescatori di Perle) is an opera in three acts by Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. While not nearly as popular as his more famous Carmen, it contains a wealth of attractive music and has found some popularity despite its exotic libretto. It received its premiere on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris.

1 Background
2 Roles
3 Noted arias
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Background

The story follows a plot after the traditions of the grand opéra style, featuring a love triangle set in the exotic location of Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. Notably, the two librettists expressed regret that they had not been aware of Bizet's talent at the time of the libretto's composition; otherwise, they contended, they would have supplied him with a better text.[1] Though occasionally performed, it survives largely through recordings,^{[citation needed]} in particular the famous tenor aria "Je crois entendre encore," and the tenor-baritone duet "Au fond du temple saint". The latter duet was always top of listener's polls^[1] for the BBC's Your Hundred Best Tunes. It was also No 1. in ABC's "The Classic 100 Opera", a poll in which Australians voted for the one moment in opera they could not live without.

[edit] Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, September 30, 1863 (Conductor: - )
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