Flower Duet
Smile for a Saturday
This Saturday, in desperate need of a smile, we turn to the season for inspiration.
We are now officially in spring — a time for rebirth and hope. Even amidst the desolation of winters, both real and metaphorical, we can await a change of fortune. Snows melt and barren landscapes explode into color.
This circle of life, made possible by our precious Earth tracing its prescribed arc through the heavens, has not surprisingly inspired artists across time and around the globe. In spring we can find the beauty and bounty of rejuvenation. Seeds sprout, trees bud, and flowers bloom.
Choosing a work of art to feature for spring is sort of like walking through a field carpeted with wildflowers. There are unique bursts of color wherever you look. And we encourage you to share some of your own favorite celebrations of spring in the comments section below.
After a grueling vetting process involving round after round of nominations and voting, we have come to our own selection. (We jest; we just go with our gut.)
We are choosing “Flower Duet” from the opera Lakmé by the French composer Léo Delibes. It is written for two voices traditionally sung by women, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano. The duet occurs at the beginning of the opera when the daughter of a high priest, Lakmé, and her servant Mallika head down to the river to gather flowers.
The opening lyrics, translated loosely from the French, set the stage:
Come, Mallika, the flowering vines
Their shadows now are throwing
Along the sacred stream,
That calmly here is flowing;
Enlivened by the songs of birds among the pines.
You have likely heard this music many times before, as it is commonly employed in movie soundtracks and advertisements. Like our previous Smile for a Saturday selection of “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Flower Duet” has also been used to sell airline tickets, for British Airways in this case. There is something about both of these pieces that seems to take off and soar (pun fully intended).
So in the spirit of flowers, reveling in the magic of the blending of human voices, and the celebration of hope and life, we present the two French opera singers Sabine Devieilhe and Marianne Crebassa as they transport us from the darkness of the present, and hopefully into a smile:
How can the world feel so dark when such beauty is present?
This is one of my favorite YouTube performances ever. I was so taken with it that I played it for my 94 year old mother, a former mezzo-soprano, in her last year of life on one of my last visits with her. We sat together holding hands and listened as tears streamed down our faces. We listened to it on repeat at least four or five times, hugging each other. Thank you for sharing this gem. It is very dear to me, and I hope it will have meaning for others.