Delos partners with Opera Lafayette and OperaCr�ole 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 D�d�'s Morgiane is finally being heard, thanks to the tireless work of Givonna Joseph, founder of OperaCr�ole, conductor Patrick Dupre Quigley, and many others. Born in New Orleans, D�d� 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.
