"The Pearl Fishers" by Bizet - Leila - Nadir duet April Evans, soprano
David Montefiore, tenor – Thomas Schilling at the pianoforte
Lake Placid - Center for the Performing Arts September 15, 1984

'Les pêcheurs de perles' -'The Pearl Fishers' is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run. Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the opera tells the story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The friendship duet "Au fond du temple saint", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet", is one of the best-known in Western opera.
We hear the Leila - Nadir duet, 'Ton coeur n'a pas compris le mien.'
George Bizet Alexandre César Léopold Bizet; 25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875 was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.
April Evans is an American soprano and winner of the Pavarotti International Voice Competition. Ms. Evans appeared with American Opera Repertory Company’s revival performance of La Juive with the soprano role of Rachel. With the Opera Orchestra of New York she sang Irene in Wagner's Rienzi and Teater Kiel in Germany as soloist in Beethoven's Missa solemnis and Rainer Kunad's Thomas-Evangelium. Her repertoire includes Franchetti's rarely performed opera Germania with the Bel Canto Opera in New York City.