Scott Joplin wrote a opera
Scott Joplin, the greatest ragtime composer, wrote a beautiful opera. People call it a ragtime opera, but it has a lot of different styles influenced by Black folk songs. Scott Joplin's Treemonisha was written in 1911. I really enjoyed it (It's very short!) and the music is just so fascinating to listen to! The plot is about a young freedwoman name Monisha who must protect her community from charlatans. It reminds me of a Mozart opera (specially Die Entführung aus dem Serail) , especially with Monisha asks forgiveness for the charlatans. At the end, the community sings, asking her to be their leader.
It's a fantastic opera because I love, love it when opera becomes infused with other musical styles. Treemonisha also has one of my absolute favorite finales:
It's a huge shame that I can't find a good video of it. There's the Houston Grand Opera version, but the video quality is... lacking.
Also much of Treemonisha productions seem to be University productions. I would love to see bigger productions!