Lakme Performances On film

[Uncle Stevie]

There are two performances of "The Bell Song" from Lakme that I have seen and adore. One is from a pop musical "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947) starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson. Kathryn Grayson does the honors here and does a mgnifiscent job singing Lakme. The second is "I Dream Too Much" (1935) starring Lily Pons and Henry Fonda. Lily Pons is the superior Opera singer here with many years of training and does an oustanding job but some how I find Grayson's performance a little more thrilling.

I would like your opinions and also to know if any other movie is around with someone else singing the Bell Song from Lakme.


Uncle Stevie

[Fossy]

There are a number of singers who perform the Bell Song from Lakme on youtube, but these appear to be the only versions from films. Most appear to be on stage versions. Lakme was Lily Pons first opera (performed at a provincial opera in western France) and the Bell Song became known as her "signature tune". Here is Kathryn at age 25, probably yet to reach her prime, and Lily at age 37 at her peak.

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[Moraldo Rubini]

There are two performances of "The Bell Song" from Lakme that I have seen and adore. One is from a pop musical "It Happened in Brooklyn" (1947) starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson. Kathryn Grayson does the honors here and does a mgnifiscent job singing Lakme. The second is "I Dream Too Much" (1935) starring Lily Pons and Henry Fonda. Lily Pons is the superior Opera singer here with many years of training and does an oustanding job but some how I find Grayson's performance a little more thrilling.
I would like your opinions and also to know if any other movie is around with someone else singing the Bell Song from Lakme.

Lakmé has a long film history; not only with the aria Où va la jeune Hindoue (better known as the "Bell Song"), but also with its "Flower Duet". The duet may even be better known today, especially after its popular use in the British Airways commercials. Actually, Lakmé first hit the silver screen in 1906, with an early British sound film of a scene from the opera. It was only 3 minutes long, but the music was synchronized on a phonograph with the film.

Lily Pons sang the "Bell Song" in two different films. First in your mentioned I Dream Too Much, and again in Carnegie Hall (1947). Simone Simon plays a french singer in Love and Hisses (1937) who sings the "Bell Song". Italian horror director Dario Argento used it in his version of Phantom of the Opera (with Julian Sands as the Phantom).

The "Flower Duet" has been used on the soundtrack of many films, usually employing the Joan Sutherland (may she rest in peace) recording. It can be heard in The Hunger (as Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve share lustful looks), Tony Scott's True Romance, the delightful Canadian romp I've Heard the Mermaid's Singing and Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me. If you're curious about Sutherland's Lakmé, she made a documentary about putting together a production in Australia.

[Uncle Stevie]

I have just heard Joan Sutherland sing The Bell Song on YouTube ( ) and find it very dull and almost morose. Perhaps it is to be sung that way but it was not pleasureable. Grayson's performance was very inspiring and her voice manipulations were magnifiscent. Pons on the other hand mechanically sang this song like no other. She is indeed the professional.

Here is Maria Callas singing Bell Song on YouTube but it is audio only. It too is drabbly sung but wuth a very powerful Callas voice.


Of note hear is the audio only performance of Ingeborg Hallstein's the Bell with a high register not usually heard.


YouTube has a selection of performances by a variety of singers. Many are better than others. Only one I had to turn off after 4 bars. Florence Foster Jenkins This has to have been a joke.

Elizabeth Parcells gave a marvelous performance with only a piano in this YouTube adio only
http://www.videomeli.com/video/9ilpVmE3 ... -1977.html