Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) is an opera by the French composer Georges Bizet, with a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré, first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. Set in ancient Ceylon, it tells how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for a woman, who is herself conflicted between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The duet "Au fond du temple saint", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet", is one of the best-known numbers in Western opera. Although the opera was well received by the public and by other composers, initial press reaction was generally hostile, and it was not revived in Bizet's lifetime. However, it later achieved popularity in Europe and America, and eventually became a staple part of the repertory of opera houses worldwide. The loss of Bizet's original score meant that, until the 1970s, productions were based on versions with significant departures from the original; recently, efforts have been made to reconstruct the score in accordance with Bizet's intentions. Modern critics have detected premonitions of the composer's genius which would culminate, 10 years later, in Carmen.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_p%C3%AAcheurs_de_perles

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1399:

Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, deposed Richard II to become Henry IV of England, merging the Duchy of Lancaster with the crown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_England

1882:

The Vulcan Street Plant, the first hydroelectric central station to serve a system of private and commercial customers in North America, went on line in Appleton, Wisconsin, US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_Street_Plant

1939:

World War II: General Władysław Sikorski became Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski

1966:

Seretse Khama became the first President of Botswana when the Bechuanaland Protectorate gained independence from the United Kingdom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seretse_Khama

2009:

A 7.6 MW earthquake struck off the southern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 1,115 people and impacting an estimated 1.25 million people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Sumatra_earthquakes

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cutify: 1. (from the Latin word for skin, "cutis") To form skin, as, the wound area was left to cutify. 2. (from "cute" + "-ify", perhaps modeled on "beautify") To make cute, as, she cutified her room. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cutify

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Love said to me, there is nothing that is not me. Be silent.   --Rumi https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rumi