BlackGrooves.org on 'Scott Joplin Treemonisha': 'if you give this recording a chance you will find yourself enchanted'

[Scott Joplin Treemonisha; The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and Singers; Rick Benjamin, conductor; New World Records 80720 (2011)]

Black Grooves
Archives of African American Music and Culture
Title: Treemonisha

Artist: Paragon Ragtime Orchestra with various performers

Label: New World Records

Formats: 2-CD set, MP3

Release date: December 5, 2011

“The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is doing truly esteemable work in its anachronistic goal to re-create the sounds of 'America’s Original Music,' that of early 19^th century film, theater and dancehalls. While a resurgence of interest in ragtime music is nothing particularly new, the PRO does something very rare amongst its contemporaries by giving special focus to the music of African American composers. While this may seem like an obvious option since ragtime was a genre created by African Americans, both historical sheet music and contemporary interest are rare, outside of the works of 'big name' composers such as Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton. The PRO’s most recent release, however, is a beautifully crafted full recording of Scott Joplin’s never-fully realized opera Treemonisha.”

“What the PRO offers, however, is a restoration as opposed to a reconstruction. Rick Benjamin —the conductor, composer and arranger of this recording—has gained a great depth of knowledge on 19^th and early 20^th century African American musical theater. He was disappointed that all the new, finished versions of Treemonisha revised the music, dance and design with an eye towards 'evaluating' the style to Grand Opera and not creating, with historical accuracy, the opera that Joplin composed.”

“As a scholar who focuses on African American musical theater in the 1890s, I have found this recording to be a very precious thing, presenting music that is both historically accurate and a pleasure to listen to. I have played excerpts from the PROs recording of Treemonisha during presentations on theater music from this era and converted the staunchest modernists and experimentalists and believe me, if you give this recording a chance you will find yourself enchanted by the music and curious enough to read through all 106 pages of notes!”

Reviewed by Dorothy Berry