This month, OperaCréole will hold a concert in honor of Scott Joplin and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, two composers of African descent, whose operatic works were never fully realized. The group will perform selections from Joplin's much-debated "Treemonisha" (Is it, or is it not grand opera?) and Coleridge -Taylor's "Thelma," which was lost for nearly 100 years before a graduate student discovered it reportedly in the archives of the British Library.
"Thelma" offers new insight into a composer dubbed "the African Mahler." The concert will also offer new insight into the relatively young OperaCréole. Mezzo soprano Givonna Joseph founded the group to showcase composers and singers of Creole and African heritage.
Earlier this year, Joseph sat down with Music Inside Out and traced her own cultural and musical roots, beginning with Marian Anderson, Mario Lanza and Negro spirituals and then taking a decisive turn to James Brown. Yes, THAT James Brown. Tune in for perhaps the zaniest operatic duet of all time.
Music Playlist
Classified
James Booker
Silvain: Overture
Andre Ernest-Modeste Gretry
Orchestre De Bretagne & Stefan Sanderling
Be My Love
Mario Lanza
This is a Man's World
James Brown & Luciano Pavarotti
Deep River
Givonna Joseph
Stormy Weather
Lena Horne
Bizet's Carmen
Act 3: Voyons Que J'essaie A Mon Tour
Shirley Verret, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden & Sir Georg Solti
Un Ballo a Maschera
Saper Vorreste
Verdi Kathleen Battle, National Philharmonic Orchestra of London & Sir Georg Solti
Schubert Lieder (Der Tod Und Das Mädchen)
Marion Anderson
Belle Nuit, the Barcarolle from Les Contes d'Hoffman
Jacques Offenbach
Aria Mason, Givonna Joseph, OperaCréole
Scena from Ernestine
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Valerie Jones Francis, OperaCréole
Family Affair
Mary J. Blige
Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way from Porgy and Bess
Gershwin
OperaCréole
I Need Thee Every Hour
Givonna Joseph
Classified
James Booker
Silvain Overture
Andre Ernest-Modeste Gretry
Orchestre De Bretagne & Stefan Sanderling
