FULL Creators in Concert: Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj TREEMONISHA Excerpts (Joplin) St.Louis & New York 2023
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Creators in Concert: Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj TREEMONISHA Excerpts
- Composer: Scott Joplin
- Libretto: Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Opera Theatre Saint Louis, OPERA America Onstage, New York City
- Recorded: December 2023
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Brandie Inez Sutton, Justin Austin, Tichina Vaughn, Phillip Bullock, Norman Garrett
- Conductor: George Manahan
- Orchestra:
- Choreographer: Maleek Washington
- Stage Director: Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj
- Stage Designer: Marsha Ginsberg
- Costume Designer: Dede Ayite
- Lighting Designer: Marcus Doshi
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Opera America
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs, gensubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj is an Indo-Afro-Caribbean American theater director, playwright, producer and activist. He holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice from St. John’s University, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from St. John’s University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatrical Directing from Brooklyn College. He is currently the Associate Artistic Producer of Milwaukee Repertory Theater. He started Rebel Theater Company in 2003 in New York City, and served as Producing Artistic Director. He is the former Artistic Director of New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia. He is the Third Vice President for the Brooklyn Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He is the Chair of the Equity in the Arts and Culture Committee for the NAACP Brooklyn Branch.
Treemonisha (1911) is an opera by American ragtime composer Scott Joplin. It is sometimes referred to as a “ragtime opera”, though Joplin did not refer to it as such and it encompasses a wide range of musical styles. The music of Treemonisha includes an overture and prelude, along with various recitatives, choruses, small ensemble pieces, a ballet, and a few arias.
The opera was largely unknown before its first complete performance in 1972. Joplin was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1976 for Treemonisha. The performance was called a “semimiracle” by music historian Gilbert Chase, who said Treemonisha “bestowed its creative vitality and moral message upon many thousands of delighted listeners and viewers” when it was recreated. The musical style of the opera is the popular romantic one of the early 20th century. It has been described as “charming and piquant and … deeply moving”, with elements of black folk songs and dances, including a kind of pre-blues music, spirituals, and a call-and-response style scene featuring a preacher and congregation.
The opera celebrates African-American music and culture while stressing that education is the salvation of African Americans. The heroine and symbolic educator is Treemonisha, who runs into trouble with a local band of conjurers, who kidnap her.