Les pêcheurs de perles dates from 1863 and represents much more than a simple operatic exercise written by a twenty-five-year-old composer. Pêcheurs is, in fact, the only opera by Bizet, apart from Carmen, that has remained in the repertoire. This opera contains memorable passages, which have ensured its lasting success and which many great singers (beginning with Caruso) have recorded and performed: for example, Nadir's aria Je crois understand encore; Léïla's beautiful aria Comme autrefois, dans la nuit sombre and, above all, the magnificent duet between Léïla and Nadir Ton cour n'a pas compress le mien. This Venetian production features an extraordinary Annick Massis as Léïla and the refined staging of Pier Luigi Pizzi.