I'll only add to the judgments below (which I endorse) that this is an unusually intelligent and nuanced performance. The opera's action comes close to the usual Eurocentric portrayal of "exotic" but naive Asians (cf."Butterfly"), and this rendition happily avoids this stereotype. Most notably, Ruth Welting not only hits all the high notes, but portrays a Indian woman who is clearly aware of the issues of this mixed-culture romance. She is especially riveting in the last-act duet, when she becomes keenly aware that her lover Gérard has mixed feelings about staying with her when his regiment goes back to his "home." The excellent Robert Massard, too, portrays Nilakantha not as the usual native thug but as a loving brother, keenly aware of how the British Raj has injured his country and thus fearful for his sister's safety. This is a performance that gets past the vocal high-jinks to get you really thinking about the opera's views on colonialism. (Is it not significant that the Europeans are British, not French?)

I have always been a fan of Welting's sweet voice and found her sadly under-represented on recordings. This set is fantastic. Gines Sirera has a light and easy voice with plenty heft when required. Will investigate him a lot more.Well sung by everyone, and the sound studio quality. Don't hesitate.

I don’t have anything to add to what other reviewers have said already. The performance is beautifully sung and conducted. Ruth Welting had a beautiful voice and amazing technique. It is very unfortunate that she made so few commercial recordings, making live recordings like this all the more valuable.

Lakme is a charming opera with one great tune after another. The plot is considered politically incorrect now, but it is redolent of its time and should be appreciated on its own terms. This ORTF performance from 1976 is a wonderful introduction to the opera with a minor caveat. The caveat is that we are given the opera as performed that night, but there are some linking sections that were cut, possibly for time. We go, for example, from the famous Lakme-Mallika duet in the first act directly into the quintet for Gerald and company with no idea how the characters got there or who they are. Similarly, unless one is familiar with the plot, the end of Act Two is very confusing because the attack on Gerald is barely acknowledged. Hadji's little monologue is cut though the music for it is played and Frederic does not appear in the last act as directed.Ruth Welting was a wonderful high coloratura soprano throughout her career and she is captured in top shape. Her trills and passagework are superb as are her high Es. She makes the Bell Song much more than a showpiece, turning it into the center of the drama. Gines Sirera sings Gerald's gorgeous music with a lovely lyric tenor that sounds very similar to Alain Vanzo's. Robert Massard is a first-rate Nilakantha, Zoila Muñoz an excellent Mallika. Henri Gallois leads a very satisfying performance. Except for some minor and fleeting tape glitches in the opening prelude, the sound is great.

A good performance with good singers - Welting as Lakme and Sirera as Gerald are excellent.

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very nice performance. fine singing. nice alternative performance

This is one of Opera Depot's hidden gems, probably the finest recording I have purchased here. Ruth Welting is a near-definitive Lakme, her coloratura astonishing in its precision, rapidity and tonal beauty. She brings a childlike innocence to the role, making Lakme's tragic fate all the more heartbreaking. She is superbly partnered with Gines Sirera, a tenor of unnaccountable obscurity. In addition to his pleasing, liquid tone, he has an easy, ringing upper register. Robert Massard's fanatically fierce Nilakantha is another wonderful souvenir of his artistry, which ranged from buffo roles to intense drama. Henri Gallois conducts with a light, flexible touch, providing the perfect frame to this marvelously idiomatic performance.

Thank You Ruthie for all the wonderful sounds! Jere Douglas, Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis, Tennessee..

Welting was a fabulous Rosina at Covent Garden double cast surprisingly with a mezzo Rosina Jane Berbie the critics asusual here moaned a bit about the inauthenticity of having a high soprano in the part but the house went wild.this was in the early 70,s she was wonderful.