Hi everyone, I figured I'd try not just lurking because we could use some more opera in here. If there's interest I'll try to share something regularly, especially lesser-known operas (I could also write about some big operas too if requested - let me know).
I want to start with one of my favorite operas, Scott Joplin's Treemonisha
Most people know Joplin's music for his ragtimes, which get played in all sorts of places. The most famous are probably The Entertainer and the Maple Leaf Rag, which you can listen to here as he played it on a piano roll (pretty different than most play it now, but piano rolls are a whole other topic)
While he became one of the most famous musicians in the US during the 1890s and 1900s, Joplin loved opera and tried to use the money he was making from the rags to compose and get his operas performed - nearly impossible for a black musician in the US at the time (actually nearly impossible still today for black musicians in the US). The score to his first opera was apparently stolen and is gone forever.
He finished his second opera, Treemonisha in 1910 and paid himself to publish it and to put on a performance with him playing piano (no full orchestra), but that was all for performances before he died young (due to syphilis).
The opera then was never fully performed until the 1970s, when Joplin's music saw a revival of interest that continues today. It still is rarely performed (probably less than 10 productions total despite a lot of attention).
The opera has a lot of different styles, and ultimately has a positive message about the importance of education for a community emerging from slavery in the 1880s.
Probably my favorite part is the final song, "A Real Slow Drag" which mixes ragtime and opera in neat ways (I also love the dancing in this performance).
If you want to watch the whole thing (only an hour and a half): 
Let me know what you think as well as if your interested in other opera content/what types of opera content. Maybe we get 