Scott Joplin: Treemonisha

Regardless of his efforts the “king of ragtime”, the American composer Scott Joplin did not see his dream – to establish himself in the field of opera as well – come true. The score of his first opera The Guest of Honour (1902–1903) was lost and the same fate met the orchestral score of his second opera Treemonisha (1906–1910). The first staging of the opera Treemonisha (in a concert version with piano) was financed by Joplin himself in May 1915 at the Lincoln Theatre in New York’s Harlem – the work did not meet with any response. Other performances did not take place until 1972 in Atlanta (orchestration: Thomas J. Anderson) and at the Wolf Trap Farm Park (orchestration: William Bolcom) and finally in 1975 at the Houston Grand Opera (orchestration: Gunther Schuller). The Houston production brought immediate renown to the opera, which became a Broadway hit for two months. In 1976 Joplin, posthumously, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the opera Treemonisha. The message of Joplin’s opera, set on an Arkansas plantation in 1884, is unequivocal and revolutionary for its time: people are freed through gaining education. An eighteen year old girl Treemonisha, found years ago by former slaves Ned and Monisha under a sacred tree and taken in as their own, becomes the leading personality of a black community thanks to the fact that she is educated.

Premiere: May 17, 2003