![]() ![]() The composer died prior to the rehearsals. As a result, Meyerbeer changed the opera's title: Vasco de Gama. Since he had discovered the sea route to India, the setting had to be transferred from Africa to India. The Portuguese seafarer now became the historical explorer Vasco da Gama. It was not until 1849, following Le Prophète, that he resumed his work on it. Years of revision and rejection followed. ![]() After some initial enthusiasm Meyerbeer soon had his doubts about the subject. Eugène Scribe's libretto told the story of an African princess who unhappily falls in love with a Portuguese naval officer. Now how did this happen? Meyerbeer had been working on the opera since 1837, and L'Africaine was its original title. May God bless the work and grant it a dazzling and enduring success."" Meyerbeer called the opera completed by him four months prior to his death Vasco de Gama, but it came to be known to posterity as L'Africaine (The African Woman). The Original Version of L'Africaine On 29 November 1863 Giacomo Meyerbeer noted in his journal, ""Worked seven hours: the last scene with Selica is instrumented and revised, and with it the score of Vasco completed. ![]()
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