Marilyn Horne, Renata Scotto & Henry Lewis - Meyerbeer: Le Prophète (2016)

This recording of what was once among the most popular operas of all was made in 1976. It has been reissued several times since then, in increasingly less sumptuous packaging (the 2016 version includes a cast list, a plot summary keyed to the track division, and little else). Casual observers may wonder what the big deal is. It's true; there are some big names involved. Marilyn Horne as Fidès, the mother of the tenor lead Jean de Leyden, was in fine form. The other top soprano, Renata Scotto, was a trifle less so, but there are some magnificent duets that, for lovers of the 1970s scene, may well be worth the price of admission (sample CD 1, track 8, "Un jour dans les flots de la Meuse"). But James McCracken as Jean is not in the same league, and the 1970s studio sound has a hollow quality that may make you think you're hearing theater sound. Really, the reason this recording has lasted so long is that nothing has come along to supplant it, and the opera is underrated. Its theme of elites living in fear of religious mobs has acquired new relevance, and its libretto by Eugène Scribe balances action, history, and romance as few other operatic stories have. The best reason to buy this album is that the time has come to appreciate why our great-grandparents knew Le Prophète so much better than we do. -- James Manheim