Composer Special: Léo Delibes
June 28 and 29
French Romantic composer Léo Delibes (1836-1891) was best known for his ballets, such as Coppélia (1870) and Sylvia (1876). Delibes created ballet scores of symphonic proportions, full of memorable tunes and sparkling orchestrations. This month, Stingray Classica pays tribute to the composer, presenting two of his masterpieces. On Saturday, June 28 at 21:00, enjoy Delibes’s famous ballet Coppélia (1870). Based on the short story ‘Der Sandmann’ by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, Coppélia revolves around the mysterious toymaker Dr. Coppélius, who has created a lifelike mechanical doll, Coppélia. The young villager Franz notices this beautiful ‘new girl’ and becomes infatuated with her, much to the dismay of his fiancée Swanhilda. Stingray Classica shows a contemporary staging of Delibes’s ballet performed by the ballet of the Opéra national de Bordeaux, featuring a choreography by Charles Jude. On Sunday, June 29 at 14:00, Stingray Classica premieres Delibes’s tragic opera Lakmé (1883), performed by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège under the baton of Frédéric Chaslin. In nineteenth-century British India, Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, falls in love with Gérald, a British officer. However, Lakmé’s father, Nilakantha, discovers that the officer has trespassed on their sacred ground and vows revenge. The opera features the celebrated ‘Flower Duet’, sung by Lakmé and her servant Mallika, as well as the wonderful coloratura aria known as the ‘Bell Song’ (Air des Clochettes).
Delibes - Coppélia
Saturday, June 28 | 21:00
A classic French ballet, Coppélia was choreographed in 1870 at the Opera de Paris, drawing inspiration from the evolution of society and the choreographer’s imagination. Featuring 40 dancers, the action takes place in the America of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Jérôme Robbins and echoes the style and spirit of Broadway musicals and Hollywood fantasies. This modern and fast-paced version was performed by Ballet de l'Opéra national de Bordeaux at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 2010.
Delibes - Lakmé
Sunday, June 29 | 14:00
Frédéric Chaslin (1963) leads the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in a performance of Léo Delibes’s tragic opera Lakmé (1883). Written to a libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, the opera is set in nineteenth-century British India and tells the story of Lakmé, who falls in love with Gérald, a British officer. However, Lakmé’s father, the Brahmin priest Nilakantha, vows revenge after he discovers that Gérald has trespassed on their sacred ground. Like many of his contemporaries, Delibes was fond of exoticism, evoking foreign lands and cultures in the tradition of Georges Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles (1863) and Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila (1877). Delibes’s opera features the celebrated “Flower Duet,” sung by Lakmé and her servant Mallika as they gather flowers by the river, and also the wonderful coloratura aria “Bell Song” (Air des Clochettes). Among the soloists are Jodie Devos, Philippe Talbot, Lionel Lhote, Pierre Doyen, and Marion Lebègue. This production was recorded at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium, in 2022.
