Bintou Wéré: African Opera by Koulsy Lamko has a journey that parallels in more ways than one, the journey of the people whose lives it chronicles. In both cases, the journeys are a response to a call from Europe. Prince Claus (founder of the eponymous fund) had what his son describes as a ‘wild idea’ – to fund and support the production of an Opera of the Sahel. Wild, because it appeared to be imposing a European structural form onto an already flourishing African creative world, and yet the idea itself raised numerous questions, not least of all would it even be possible? The response from the diverse group of people who made the opera happen was a resounding yes. In the same way that the large numbers of people who cross the Sahel every day in order to fashion an answer to their economic challenges make the journey their own, the opera was a collaborative effort that resulted in two intertwined stories; Bintou Wéré's story and the story of how the opera came into being. The ambitions of this project are reflected in the book which contains much more than the libretto. The three-part book is beautifully illustrated and interspersed with striking photographs of the productions that took place both on the African continent and in Europe. Part One covers the idea itself, Part Two introduces the reader to music in the Sahel, and Part Three the technical aspects of the libretto and production. The book usefully closes with biographies and a glossary. It also has opening and closing chapters written by key figures involved in the production – funders, dreamers and creatives.

Despite being both attractive to look at and engaging to read, there are structural aspects of the book that would have made it easier to navigate. Given the constant referrals about the length of time it took for the production to come into being, a standalone timeline would have helped to clarify the production process. Coupled with the artistic decision to eschew page numbers, the journey through the book (perhaps unintentionally) mimicked an outsider's journey across an unfamiliar desert landscape. It was not possible to fully appreciate the overall shape of the journey until reading the libretto which only comes right towards the end of the book.