Treemonisha is an opera composed by Scott Joplin in 1911. It was never performed in full during his lifetime and the first complete performance wasn't until 1972. Since then, it's been staged several times, including by the Luminato Festival in Toronto this month. I attended a sold-out performance Thursday night and was very glad I did.
My taste in opera runs very much to 20th-century and later works, especially those by Philip Glass and John Adams, so I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this. But the performance was excellent and the music an interesting mix of classical, dance, and gospel styles. Given how well the opera was received by the Toronoto audience, I'm sure it will continue to be performed.
Here are three videos.
The first a performance by the Houston Grand Opera. Video quality is not great and there are Portugese subtitles, but I haven't been able to find a better one.
The second is a recording of the Houston Grand Opera but the video is the score and libretto.
The third is a short documentary.
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