Joplin: Treemonisha

Scott Joplin (Composer), Gunther Schuller (Conductor), Ben Harney (Performer), Betty Allen (Performer), Carmen Balthrop (Performer), Cora Johnson (Performer), Curtis Rayam (Performer), Dorceal Duckens (Performer), Dwight Ransom (Performer), Edward Pierson (Performer), Kenneth Hicks (Performer), Raymond Bazemore (Performer), Willard White (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ben Harney, Betty Allen, Carmen Balthrop, Cora Johnson, Curtis Rayam, et al.
• Conductor: Gunther Schuller
• Composer: Scott Joplin
• Audio CD (July 12, 2005)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B00099BPNI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,216 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joplin's Treemonisha, October 11, 2006

By 

Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Joplin: Treemonisha (Audio CD)

Scott Joplin (1867/68 -- 1917) was one of the earliest composers with the ambition of combining African-American and classical musical forms. He is best-known for his ragtime compositions for the piano, but he also worked in more ambitious genres. By 1910, Joplin had composed his second opera, "Treemonisha". (The score of an earlier opera, "Guest of Honor" has been lost.) He spent much of the rest of life in an unsuccessful attempt to have Treemonisha staged and performed. The opera lay dormant until the mid-1970s when with the revival of interest in ragtime, Treemonisha was staged and performed by the Houston Lyric Opera Company and received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1976. Treemonisha was made into a movie and presented on television but, unfortunately, it has again largely faded from public sight. The work receives performances from time to time by music festivals and schools and by small opera companies.

Joplin wrote the libretto as well as the music for Treemonisha. The story is set around 1884 in a rural African American community near Texarkana, Arkansas. (Just before my rehearing of Treemonisha, I passed through Texarkana on the train en route to Dallas.) The story shows Joplin's vision of how rural African Americans could advance after the Civil War by combatting superstition and by hard work, good leadership, and, most of all, a commitment to education. Importantly, Joplin's story teaches the virtue of forgiveness and of not holding grudges.

The heroine of the opera is an 18 year old woman, Treemonisha, who had been found as an infant under a tree and raised as a daughter by Monisha and her husband Ned. Monisha and Ned sent Treemonisha to a white woman for education, as the community had no schools, and Treemonisha returns as the only member of the community who can read and write. As the opera opens, Treemonisha foils the efforts of a conjurer, Zodzetrick, to sell a "bag of luck" to Monisha. In response, the connjurers kidnap Treemonisha and are about to throw her into a wasp nest when she is rescued by a townsman, Remus, disguised as a scarecrow. The conjurers in turn are captured by field workers and taken to the town where at Treemonisha's urging, they are forgiven and released. Treemonisha is acknowledged as the leader of the community and she and Monisha lead the people in a ragtime dance "Marching Onward".

This 2-CD set of "Treemonisha" on Deutsche Gramophon was first released in 1976 with the initial enthusiasm over the opera and reissued in 2005 at a budget price. Gunther Schuller, who orchestrated Joplin's piano score, conducts with Carmen Balthorp singing the role of Treemonisha and Betty Allen singing Monisha.

With its music and storyline, the opera is a mixed success. The most successful numbers are those in which Joplin stays closest to a folk idiom, particularly the finale, "A Real Slow Drag" ("Marching Onward"), the conclusion to Act II, "Aunt Dinah has Blowed de Horn", the Ring Dance "We're Going Around" from Act I, and the number for a well-meaning but shallow itinerant preacher, Parson Alltalk, "Good Advice" from Act I. I thought the Prelude to Act III also worked well as a musical number, while the overture to the entire opera was less successful. Many of the remaining numbers, for Monisha and for male soloists Remus and Ned, seem to be based more closely on European opera. Joplin composed some lovely music in these sections, but they lack the spontaniety and verve of the dances and the more folkish sections of the score.

Treemonisha remains a landmark in American Opera, and Joplin's intended crowning achievement of his career. The opera's vision of uplift and forgiveness remains inspiring, even with the crudeness of the plot. Joplin's life goal of raising African American music to the stature of American classic was realized in part by his opera. An understanding of Treemonisha is essential to understanding Joplin's artistic aims and his achievement. It is fortunate that this recording of Treemonisha is again available to introduce the listener to Joplin's opera.

Robin Friedman

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unusual and virtuous classic, July 8, 2006

By 

Julio Lopez "soundtrack fan" (Santiago, Chile) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Joplin: Treemonisha (Audio CD)

A quite unusual piece, indeed. Scott Joplin's score is wonderful, despite the fact that the story line couldn't be sillier. It talks about superstition, evil spirits, witchcrafting and staff like that. Besides, it's a soap opera (as all serious operas are, indeed)in the most melodramatic sense of the word. However, musically speaking, it sounds wonderful, being the brief but intense "Aunt Dinah Has Blowed de Horn" and the final "A real Slow Drag" my favourite tracks. The music sounds pure Joplin in several instances, although it is the operatic touch rather than the ragtime strain what predominates. The recording is first class and the voices, terrific. I highly recommend this classic to rare-piece collectors and ragtime fans.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Plain Fun, May 28, 2006

By 

Henri IV (The Steamy Middle East) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joplin: Treemonisha (Audio CD)

First of all, the opera itself:

I am one of those people who know nothing about music, have noone to show off for, and see or listen to opera - mainly operetta, really - only to be entertained. For me, this is a great work. Unlike one of the reviewers of another edition, I didn't find the libretto silly. I suppose one of the differences is that he is probably an urban American, while I live in the wilds of nowhere. For me, the battle between ignorance and superstition and their exploitation, on the one hand, and progress and simple decency, on the other, is still part of daily life. I fight Treemonisha's battle with her.
Another reviewer also found the stagecraft flat. Well, our family put on our own production of Treemonisha - Yes, we still do home-made amateur theatricals - and we had a ball. We especially enjoyed the kidnapping of Treemonisha and the final dance.

Now for this production:

Once again, it depends on what you're looking for. For me, this one is just fine. My only complaint is about Ben Harney's overly emotive Zodzetrick: it appears that Mr. Harney is convinced that he is the reincarnation of Sir Henry Irving; he would obviously be happier singing Wagner, and we would also be happier if he did so.

Although this is far from pure ragtime, it is pure Joplin; if you like Joplin, you will like this opera and this recording.