Olga Olgina brings old school vocal style to Lakmé's showpiece

THE SONGBIRD: Polish soprano Olga Olgina (1904 - 1979) was born in Lodz, then moved to St. Petersburg as a child where she studied at the music conservatory. The outbreak of the Russian revolution in 1917 led her family to move back to Poland. In 1922 she made her debut as Violetta in Vilnius -- she became a company member singing leading coloratura roles for several seasons. In 1925, she toured to Yugoslavia and Austria, and began singing at the Warsaw Opera. She continued touring (including to England where she made several records for Decca), but in 1934 moved to Poznań and retired from the stage. She became a voice teacher, her most famous student being Teresa Zylis-Gara.

THE MUSIC: "Lakmé" by Leo Delibes was first performed in 1883 in Paris. The work epitomizes the orientalist trend at the time through the perceived novelty of colonial English people in an exotic location, namely India. The title role, the daughter of a Hindu priest, is one of the cornerstones of the light coloratura soprano repertoire. It was written for Marie van Zandt, who was only 24 years old at its premiere and quickly became one of the foremost sopranos of the era. Lakme's Act 2 aria "Où va la jeune Hindoue" is commonly referred to as the Bell Song because the soprano mimics a set of magic chimes while telling the haunting legend of the Pariah's daughter. It is standard practice to sing three High Es in aria -- the first one in the vocal prelude and the one to top a flourish after the first bell refrain are in the score as optional variants (Olgina does the first, but not the second), while the climactic sustained High E6 at the end is not in the score (which Olgina does).

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