Amazon.com This is both rare and well-done: a sadly neglected grand opera, as spectacular in its own way as Aida or Turandot, in a production that is not likely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future. Meyerbeer's L'Africaine is remembered today almost exclusively for a single aria that Enrico Caruso recorded in Italian, "O Paradiso," sung by Placido Domingo in the original French in this production. It also offers an intensely tangled plot, exotic dancing, pagan rituals, a dizzying storm at sea and shipwreck, and a wealth of flowing melody. The story is a fictionalized treatment of the adventures of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (Domingo), with a love triangle involving Selika, queen of Madagascar (Shirley Verrett), and a Portuguese noblewoman, Ines (Ruth Ann Swenson). The whole cast is strong; Domingo is excellent, and Verrett often dominates the screen. --Joe McLellan Product Description 'L'AFRICANE' IS SET IN THE DAYS OF THE GREAT EXPLORATIONS. SHIPWRECKED ON THE AFRICAN COAST, VASCO DE GAMA RETURNS TO PORTUGAL WITH 2 CAPTIVES & FALLS IN LOVE WITH ONE OF THEM, A BEAUTIFUL EAST INDIAN QUEEN. HOWEVER, THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS THREATENED BY THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DE GAMA'S FORMER LOVER., ISBN13: B00005NG0W ISBN10: B00005NG0W Material Type: dvdAmazon.com This is both rare and well-done: a sadly neglected grand opera, as spectacular in its own way as Aida or Turandot, in a production that is not likely to be surpassed in the foreseeable future. Meyerbeer's L'Africaine is remembered today almost exclusively for a single aria that Enrico Caruso recorded in Italian, "O Paradiso," sung by Placido Domingo in the original French in this production. It also offers an intensely tangled plot, exotic dancing, pagan rituals, a dizzying storm at sea and shipwreck, and a wealth of flowing melody. The story is a fictionalized treatment of the adventures of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (Domingo), with a love triangle involving Selika, queen of Madagascar (Shirley Verrett), and a Portuguese noblewoman, Ines (Ruth Ann Swenson). The whole cast is strong; Domingo is excellent, and Verrett often dominates the screen. --Joe McLellan Product Description 'L'AFRICANE' IS SET IN THE DAYS OF THE GREAT EXPLORATIONS. SHIPWRECKED ON THE AFRICAN COAST, VASCO DE GAMA RETURNS TO PORTUGAL WITH 2 CAPTIVES & FALLS IN LOVE WITH ONE OF THEM, A BEAUTIFUL EAST INDIAN QUEEN. HOWEVER, THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS THREATENED BY THE RE-EMERGENCE OF DE GAMA'S FORMER LOVER., ISBN13: B00005NG0W ISBN10: B00005NG0W Material Type: dvd , ISBN13: B00005NG0W ISBN10: B00005NG0W Material Type: dvd