Delos partners with Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole 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 its completion, Edmond Dédé's Morgiane is finally being heard, thanks to the tireless work of Givonna Joseph, founder of OperaCréole, conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley, and many others. Born in New Orleans, Dédé fled an Apartheid-like existence for free people of color in the southern United States to build his career in France, a move that in turn exerted 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.
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