Meyerbeer's L'Africaine

[Mark Thomas]

Has anyone yet had a chance to compare the new Naxos release of Meyerbeer's L'Africaine with the earlier cpo release? With Michael Spyres in the role of Vasco it's a very tempting buy.

[Alan Howe]

I've avoided it, Mark, both because Spyres doesn't have the 'heft' for the role and because the supporting cast isn't up to scratch. Of course, I'm notoriously fussy when it comes to good singing and may well be missing something special here...

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Alan, that's helpful. Amazingly the whole thing has been uploaded to YouTube by Naxos here, so one can judge for oneself, I suppose. I asked because I found the cpo Vasco da Gama (interesting that Naxos have reverted to Meyerbeer's original title) a disappointment after so much hype. I must say I thought Spyres sounds pretty good in what I've heard of it so far, but my expectations are notoriously low compared to yours .

[Alan Howe]

Spyres has been taking on a lot of heavy repertoire in recent times - I believe he's about to sing Lohengrin, for example. I'd be prepared to give the new set a try if I thought the rest of the cast was up to the considerable demands of L'Africaine, but the excerpts at Presto sound very 'average' to me - in an opera in which world-class vocalism is required.

I won't be abandoning my Blu-ray with Domingo and Verrett (two of the greatest singers of their era) anytime soon, but I appreciate that I'm very picky- and always have been: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCFw51kdApg