Operacreole Ensemble - Edmond Dede: Morgiane Ou Le Sultan D'ispahan (Live [CD]

Delos partners with Opera Lafayette and OperaCreole to present this world premiere recording of the earliest complete opera by a Black American. This recording is not a revival - it is a revelation. More than a century after it's completion, Edmond Dede's Morgiane is finally being heard, thanks to the tireless work of Givonna Joseph, founder of OperaCreole, conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley, and many others. Born in New Orleans, Dede fled an Apartheid-like existence for free people of color in the southern United States to build his career in France, a move that turned to exert a great influence on his composing style. In that respect, Morgiane is not only beautiful, but it also bridges worlds: American and French, Black and white, powerful and marginalized. It is the work of a composer who labored with conviction and brilliance, even as he feared no one might ever hear his music.