I’m probably not the only person who knows Delibes Lakmé only by the famous duet “Viens, Malika”, nor did I realise it actually comes about ten minutes into the first act. So, I was curious to explore the recent (2022) recording from the Opéra Comique where the work premiered in 1882.
Cavalli’s Ercole Amante is an oddity. It was intended as a wedding present from Cardinal Mazarin to Louis XIV but got hijacked by Lully who inserted a bunch of ballets for the king to dance stretching out the piece to something like six hours. It wasn’t a great success. It’s also a very odd story for a piece intended for a royal patron as I explained in reviewing an earlier recording. It’s also in Italian which may make the only French court work to be performed in that language.
