This Sunday morning on WPRB, we’ll defy the elements to bring you Scott Joplin’s most ambitious endeavor, the opera “Treemonisha.”
Joplin, of course, is rightly celebrated as the master of the piano rag, but in “Treemonisha” he aspired for something more – a “serious” opera in the European tradition, though infused with rhythms and melodies that could have come from no one else. In fact, the work is often described erroneously as a “ragtime opera.”
Sadly, Joplin never lived to see his magnum opus fully staged. “Treemonisha” received its sole read-through in 1915, at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem, with the composer at the keyboard. In fact, the work’s existence was virtually unknown until its revival in 1972, in a joint production of the music department of Morehouse College and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The opera went on to be performed by companies all over the United States, making its Broadway debut in 1975. In 1976, Joplin was honored with a posthumous citation from the Pulitzer Prize committee – a mere 59 years after his death.
I hope you’ll join me for Joplin’s “Treemonisha.” The opera will cap three hours of light classics written or influenced by African-American composers – including a performance by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, from its ongoing “Black Manhattan” series on New World Records – this Sunday morning, from 7 to 10 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We may be expecting some white stuff overnight, but we’ll be drinking our coffee black, on Classic Ross Amico.
