Operas Inspired by Flowers

Spring finally seems to have arrived with an abundance of flowers. In the old poem, it's April showers that bring May flowers. But in opera, flowers pop up for a variety of reasons, and not all of them are pretty. While operatic flowers can be enjoyed for their beauty, their allure can also spell trouble.

Carmen - "La fleur que tu m'avais

jetée"

Composer: Georges Bizet
Libretto: Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy
Year: 1875
In Bizet’s Carmen, a single flower signals tragedy. In the “Flower Song,” Don José recalls falling in love with Carmen. But the once sweet-smelling flower she gave him has withered, and so have his amorous feelings.

Lakmé - "Sous le dôme épais"

Composer: Léo Delibes
Libretto: Philippe Gille, Edmond Gondinet
Year: 1883
In the first act of Léo Delibes’ Lakmé, the title character and her servant collect blue lotuses at the river’s edge in this lovely “Flower Duet.” But at the end of the opera, Lakmé chooses her own fate by eating the deadly datura flower. This music has won many new fans through its use in British Airways ads.

Parsifal - "Komm, komm, holder Knabe!"

Composer: Richard Wagner
Libretto: Richard Wagner
Year: 1883
In Act 2 of Wagner’s Parsifal, voluptuous flower maidens, perfumed in their magic garden, sing: “Come, come handsome boy, I’ll be your flower!” Spoiler alert: Parsifal doesn’t take the bait.

Der Rosenkavalier - "Mir ist die Ehre

widerfahren"

Composer: Richard Strauss
Libretto: Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Year: 1910
In Act 2 of Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Octavian is dispatched as the knight of the rose (Rosenkavalier), delivering a silver flower to Sophie on behalf of her betrothed, Baron Ochs. Little does Octavian know that by the end of the opera, Sophie will be in his arms.

Adriana Lecouvreur - "Poveri fiori"

Composer: Francesco Cilea
Libretto: Arturo Colautti
Year: 1902
Violets get passed around in Franceso Cilea’s melodramatic love triangle Adriana Lecouvreur, first as a sweet memento between Adriana and the man she desires. Then he gives the bouquet to an admirer who secretly poisons the flowers, making sure they get back to Adriana. In the aria “Poveri fiori” (Poor little flowers), Adriana inhales their deadly scent and dies.