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...