Meyerbeer: L'Africaine (1988)
• January 1st, 1988 • 3h 9min
Music
Overview
This was a 1988 revival of a 1971 production that teamed Domingo (Vasco da Gama) and Verrett (Selika - both then very much in their prime) in Meyerbeer's discursive swan-song. Seventeen years on, they are more statuesque than sexy, but both give larger-than-life performances that contain moments of completely thrilling vocalism. The casting is very strong, with the exception of Justino Diaz's Nelusko, which has strong presence but not much vocal allure. As Inez, Vasco da Gama's fiancee and rival for Shirley Verrett, Ruth Ann Swneson sings with great beauty and has impressive stage presence, very much holding her own in the confrontation with Verrett in the last act. Domingo is refulgent of tone and dramatically convincing, and he and Verrett strike sparks. She really comes into her own in one of the most preposterous mad-scenes in all opera, where she is slowly poisoned by the scent of a giant tree, contriving to make this dramatically truthful and even moving.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Released on: 2007-02-24
Music, Drama
The pain of unrequited love is portrayed unforgettably by two of today’s greatest stars. Renée Flemi...
The Metropolitan Opera: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Released on: 2025-05-31
Music
Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongsid...
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Released on: 1981-08-24
Music
The Glyndebourne Opera's 1981 production of the Benjamin Britten opera, based on Shakespeare's play.
Royal Opera House Live 2024/25: The Marriage of Figaro
Released on: 2024-09-10
Music, Romance, Comedy
Count Almaviva lives with his Countess on their estate near Seville. The Count has his eye on his wi...
Die Walküre
Released on: 2006-05-31
Music
Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), WWV 86B, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner with a German libre...
Royal Opera House: Andrea Chénier
Released on: 2024-06-11
Music
At a glittering party in 18th-century Paris, the poet Andréa Chenier delivers an impassioned denunci...
Die Walküre
Released on: 1990-02-23
Music, Drama
The gorgeous and evocative Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production continues with this sec...
Aida - San Francisco Opera
Released on: 1981-12-31
Music
An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for the enslaved Ethio...
Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
Released on: 2015-02-14
Music
Valery Gergiev conducts Mariusz Trelinski’s thrilling new production of these rarely heard one-act o...
Salome
Released on: 1997-04-29
Music
Richard Strauss's opera, from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Released on: 2003-11-22
Music
Live performance from the Opéra National de Paris, 2003.
Les Contes D'Hoffmann
Released on: 2008-10-06
Music
Among DVDs of "Hoffmann" currently available, this is the only one that even begins to stand compari...
Ermione
Released on: 1995-06-03
Music
Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995, this acclaimed presentation of composer Gioachi...
The Metropolitan Opera: L’Amour de Loin
Released on: 2016-12-10
Music
Robert Lepage’s dreamlike production, with its thousands of twinkling LED lights stretching across t...
Tosca
Released on: 2000-03-17
Music
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep...
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Zurich Opera House)
Released on: 2001-12-01
Music
Live 2001 production from the Zurich Opera House of the classic Mozart/Da Ponte opera, with Nikolaus...
Der Rosenkavalier
Released on: 2007-11-25
Music
The Semperoper caused a sensation in November 2007 when it visited Japan for the first time in twent...
The Newspaper
Released on: 2005-01-01
Music
The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD releas...
