Mado Robin was one of the most distinctive French coloratura sopranos of the mid-twentieth century, celebrated above all for the extraordinary extension and facility of her upper register. Closely associated with the French repertory throughout her career, she became particularly identified with Lakmé, a role that placed her exceptional range and technical agility at the center of her artistry.

Those qualities are very much in evidence in Lakmé. Even if Robin may lack some of the vocal glamour associated with the great interpreters of the title role, she more than compensates with astonishingly accurate coloratura and, of course, her almost superhuman top register.