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The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet (Sous le dôme épais) is a famous duet for sopranos from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in Act 1 of the three act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river. Its ubiquitous presence in films and popular music since the mid-1980s was inaugurated by its usage in the 1983 horror film The Hunger.
Puccini's Madama Butterfly also contains a number (Il Cannone Del Porto) often known as the Flower Duet.
French
Sous le dôme épais Où le blanc jasmin À la rose s’assemble Sur la rive en fleurs, Riant au matin Viens, descendons ensemble.
Doucement glissons de son flot charmant Suivons le courant fuyant Dans l’onde frémissante D’une main nonchalante Viens, gagnons le bord, Où la source dort et L’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.
Sous le dôme épais Où le blanc jasmin, Ah! descendons ensemble!
English Translation
Under the dense canopy Where the white jasmine Blends with the rose On the flowering bank Laughing at the morning Come, let us drift down together
Let us gently glide along With the enchanting flow Of the fleeing current On the rippling surface With a lazy hand Let us reach the shore Where the source sleeps And the bird sings
Under the dense canopy Under the white jasmine Let us drift down together
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article The Flower Duet.
