Vasco de Gama

Vasco de Gama

The Original Version of L'Africaine On 29 November 1863 Giacomo Meyerbeer noted in his journal, ""Worked seven hours: the last scene with Selica is instrumented and revised, and with it the score of Vasco completed. May God bless the work and grant it a dazzling and enduring success."" Meyerbeer called the opera completed by him four months prior to his death Vasco de Gama, but it came to be known to posterity as L'Africaine (The African Woman). Now how did this happen? Meyerbeer had been working on the opera since 1837, and L'Africaine was its original title. EugÃ¨ne Scribe's libretto told the story of an African princess who unhappily falls in love with a Portuguese naval officer. After some initial enthusiasm Meyerbeer soon had his doubts about the subject. Years of revision and rejection followed. It was not until 1849, following Le ProphÃ¨te, that he resumed his work on it. The Portuguese seafarer now became the historical explorer Vasco da Gama. Since he had discovered the sea route to India, the setting had to be transferred from Africa to India. As a result, Meyerbeer changed the opera's title: Vasco de Gama. The composer died prior to the rehearsals. The musicologist Joseph de FÃ©tis subsequently examined the existing material, introducing some unfortunate changes and greatly abridging it. He was of the opinion that the work had to be presented to the music world with the title as promised: L'Africaine. And this meant that scenes featuring Indian worship of Brahma were set in Africa! The critical edition by JÃ¼rgen SchlÃ¤der formed the basis of our studio production (here no live recording!) of the acclaimed Chemnitz production and now for the first time enables us to catch a glimpse of Meyerbeer's intentions.
Country USA
Brand CPO
Manufacturer CPO
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber CPO777828
Model CPO777828
ReleaseDate 2014-06-10
UnitCount 4
Format Box set
UPCs 761203782826
EANs 0761203782826

Country	USA
Brand	CPO
Manufacturer	CPO
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	CPO777828
Model	CPO777828
ReleaseDate	2014-06-10
UnitCount	4
Format	Box set
UPCs	761203782826
EANs	0761203782826

You might also like...