Here are the items that we found.
L'Africaine
Bloodless conducting of a full-blooded opera can be excused only when the singing is of first-rate quality. Such is the case here. Leo Wurmser may make Meyerbeer sound like Arthur Sullivan (a quality not helped by Geoffrey Dunn's fussy English translation), but with Heather Harper, Raimund Herincx, Josephine Veasey, and Robert Thomas on hand, life is breathed into Meyerbeer's exotic scenario. Neither Veasey nor Thomas can be called paragons of English, but Veasey is endlessly, effortlessly lyrical in Sélika's long legato lines, and Thomas is equally at home in Vasco da Gama's more lyrical moments as well as his bold, Otello-like declamations before the Grand Inquisitor. Heather Harper's creamy soprano, a nice contrast to Veasey's darker instrument, rounds out the love triangle nicely. Herincx's rendition of Nélusko's storm aria has a nicely sinister undercurrent to the jocularity, and he has the best diction in the cast.
Track List
Act I
1. Prelude
2. What is this order that my father has sent?
3. He will come back
4. My father, have you bade me?
5. For my good name, show some discretion
6. I'm sorry I have brought you these tidings
7. Because the King of Spain, our rival
8. My lords, commit to you
9. Come nearer, you slaves
10. We should haste to support the great plan
11. The Council here met
2. What is this order that my father has sent?
3. He will come back
4. My father, have you bade me?
5. For my good name, show some discretion
6. I'm sorry I have brought you these tidings
7. Because the King of Spain, our rival
8. My lords, commit to you
9. Come nearer, you slaves
10. We should haste to support the great plan
11. The Council here met
Act II
12. He turns and sighs in his sleep
13. I must do this deed to save the honor of our Queen
14. Remember in our Island
15. In drink, my darkest fears confine me
16. You see, they told the truth
17. He is yours, he is mine
18. The ship awaits the dawn
13. I must do this deed to save the honor of our Queen
14. Remember in our Island
15. In drink, my darkest fears confine me
16. You see, they told the truth
17. He is yours, he is mine
18. The ship awaits the dawn
Act III
19. Bestir! Bestir!
20. Fierce and furious the tempest is brewing
21. There's a vessel that carries the Portuguese flag!
22. Friend and foe, have you forgotten
20. Fierce and furious the tempest is brewing
21. There's a vessel that carries the Portuguese flag!
22. Friend and foe, have you forgotten
Act IV
23. By Brahma we vow
24. Land of my desires, Garden of delights
25. Yet now behold me, the Queen and the slave
26. Listen now to my voice
27. Don Pedro's ship is destroyed
28. My Selika, you are free now
29. O trinity of Gods
24. Land of my desires, Garden of delights
25. Yet now behold me, the Queen and the slave
26. Listen now to my voice
27. Don Pedro's ship is destroyed
28. My Selika, you are free now
29. O trinity of Gods
Act V (incomplete)
30. Love is demented, my heart is tormented
31. Take this woman away now
32. From here, I look to sea
33. They've Gone!
31. Take this woman away now
32. From here, I look to sea
33. They've Gone!
Customer Reviews
Share your experience with fellow collectors
Share Your Experience
A star rating alone is welcome, and reviews may be written in any language.
4.0
Based on 1 review
✓ Top Reviewer
United States
Excellent Performance in Good Sound!
This 1963 BBC performance of Meyerbeer's last opera presents over two and a half hours of the score, but I'm sure lot has been cut. I won't speak of French style because this performance is sung in English (Andy has a point above when he writes that the music often sounds like Sullivan). The singers though are very sensitive to how this music should be phrased and sung. As the eponymous African Woman Veasey surprises with her easy, sopranoish top. Selika's music contains many Bs and Cs, coloratura, a long trill, and is very long. Veasey is game for all of it. If I didn't know otherwise I would've thought she was a soprano. Harper is equally terrific as Inez, the other woman in the story. She too has many written Cs. Was there anything Harper didn't sing well? I haven't heard it. I wasn't familiar with Robert Thomas, but he is marvelous as Vasco De Gama. His tone is firm, steady, and beautiful and he has no trouble with top notes (of which there are plenty). Herincx shows again what a tremendously good singer he was. His diction is superb. He has all the top notes for Nelusko and an excellent trill to boot. Everyone sings with steady tone. The first tenors in the chorus get to sing some great high notes to cap the ensembles. A pity we only have the final two minutes of Inez and Selika's last act duet, but there we are.Good broadcast sound, flawed in the third and fourth acts by some crunching distortions when the music gets loud.
Report
