Grace Bumbry Reflects on Châtelet Production of Scott Joplin's 'Treemonisha' in Paris

[Grace Bumbry]

BU Today

Arts & Entertainment

Boston University

August 2, 2010

Amazing Grace: In five decades, Grace Bumbry’s career has soared, from Wagner to Scott Joplin

By Susan Seligson

“This spring, she was lured out of retirement to perform the role of the mother in a production of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the city where she made her debut 50 years ago.” “Bumbry could not pass up the chance to be a part of the Joplin opera, a century after it was composed, heading an all-black cast from the United States and Africa. In Treemonisha, set in 1884, an adopted daughter of an Arkansas plantation manager tries to wrench her people free from ignorance and superstition. Joplin, who died of syphilis in 1917, never saw a full production of Treemonisha, which wasn’t performed until 1972, in Atlanta. Racism undoubtedly played a role in the long, crushing efforts of America’s undisputed king of ragtime to make his mark as a composer for the lyrical stage. The opera won Joplin a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.”

“A former honorary UNESCO ambassador, Bumbry is known for other off-stage roles, including founder of the Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble, which she created in the 1990s to promote Negro spirituals and gospel music as concert fare. Currently dormant, the choir reflected her conviction, as she told the New York Times, that 'the spiritual is the American classic, as Brahms and Beethoven are the European classic.'”

“Although well attended, the Châtelet production of Treemonisha received lukewarm reviews, mostly for the score, summed up by critic Jorg von Uthmann as 'somewhere between an opera and a Broadway show, but not really at ease on either end.' But von Uthmann went on to describe the performance of Bumbry as 'good by any standards,' and for her age, 'nothing short of extraordinary.' Her fellow singers respectfully insisted that she come out last for curtain calls.”

“Bumbry herself found the production exhilarating. 'It was just one of those productions when everyone, even the performers, left the theater in a happy spirit,' she says. 'That’s unusual.'” “As for her own wide-ranging career, Bumbry says: 'I made mistakes … but too few to mention.' The famous voice erupts in a benevolent, throaty laugh.” This story originally appeared in the summer 2010 issue of Bostonia. Read more. [Scott Joplin (1868-1917) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]