Leo Delibes' greatest operatic success, Lakmé, received its first performance in 1883 at the Opéra-Comique: it propelled him to the front rank of French composers for the stage and soon rivaled Bizet's Carmen in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.

The score of Lakmé is characteristically French in its rich orchestration and elegant melodies. The setting is India, the time the mid-nineteenth century. The first act takes place in the flowered grounds of a Hindu temple. The Brahmin priest Nilakantha nurses an intense hatred for those who prevent him from practicing his own religion. He departs to attend a meeting of the faithful, leaving his daughter Lakmé and her attendant Mallika outside the temple. They sing together, before departing in a boat to collect flowers from the jungle to place on the temple altar. Two English men, Gérald and Frédéric, accompanied by two young English girls, Ellen and Rose, and their governess Miss Bentson, appear. They break through the bamboo fence that surrounds the temple, and comment that many of the flowers in the area are poisonous. They notice some of Lakmé's pieces of jewelry lying on a stone table, and Gérald agrees to stay behind to make the sketches of these. Lakmé and Mallika return, and Gérald hides. Mallika departs, leaving Lakmé alone: when she sees Gérald she cries out in alarm, but she sends away those who come to her aid. She tells Gérald that he must forget that he ever saw her, but he is fascinated by Lakmé. Nilakantha returns, sees the violation of the temple grounds, and swears to kill those responsible.

The second act is set in the busy market-place of a nearby town, which Ellen, Miss Bentson and Frédéric are visiting. In order to identify the temple intruder, Nilakantha had disguised himself as a beggar and, despite commenting on her unhappy looks, forces Lakmé to sing in order to attract the attention of the trespasser. She sings of the legend of the Pariah's daughter who saved the life of Vishnu, the son of Brahma, by ringing her bracelet bells to warn him of an imminent attack. To Nilakantha's dismay, no one answers to her singing and he commands her to continue. Gérald now appears from the crowd, recognizing Lakmé. As he approaches her, Nilakantha stabs him, but Gérald is only slightly injured. Hadji, Nilakantha's servant, helps Lakmé to take Gérald to her secret hiding place in the forest.

The third and final act is set in Lakmé's forest hut where she is tending Gérald. The distant sound of singing can be heard. She tells him it is lovers who come to drink from the sacred spring, and whose waters confer the gift of eternal love. She urges him to drink the magical water that will ensure the couple everlasting love. Gérald hesitates, torn between his love for her and his duty to his regiment. Lakmé leaves to fetch the sacred water. Frédéric appears and urges Gérald to return to duty, which he agrees to do. When Lakmé returns she notices a change in Gérald. Realizing that she has lost him, she tears a leaf from a fatal tree and bites it. As she is dying, they drink together from the water of the sacred river. Nilakantha enters and Lakmé tells him she and her lover have shared the sacred water: Gérald is therefore sacrosanct to the gods. If they demand a sacrifice she will give them what they ask. She dies in Gérald's arms.

Writer: David Patmore