Earliest-known Black American opera finally gets a world premiere
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The St. Louis Cathedral will host the world premire of Edmond Dédé's "Morgiane." Photo: Courtesy of the HNOC
The earliest-known, full-length opera by a Black American composer, New Orleans' own Edmond Dédé, will be performed for the first time ever Friday night.
Why it matters: You can watch it for free at the St. Louis Cathedral.
Flashback: New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz, but the city was once a major opera town, too.
- New Orleans was actually home to the U.S.' first opera company, according to Tulane University, with productions held as early as 1791.
Zoom in: Dédé, a Creole man, was born in the city in 1827. He was among one of the largest populations of free people of color in the South.
- Dédé traveled widely, but had a hard time getting his music taken seriously, at least in part, scholars believe, because of his skin color. He died in Paris in 1901, according to The Washington Post.
Dédé composed "Morgiane" in 1887, but it was never performed live and was more or less lost for over a century.
- Then, it was found in 2011 in Harvard University's Houghton Library, the Post reports. Xavier University archivist Lester Sullivan sent it to OperaCréole founder and artistic director Givonna Joseph a year later.
- "At 550 handwritten pages, fully orchestrated (with references to other missing scores), it's a substantial musical document that has remained almost entirely unexplored," the Post explains.
The opera "tells a tale of vengeance, truth, and reconciliation that begins when a young couple's wedding day is disrupted by the sultan's desire for the bride," according to the HNOC summary.
- "When the bride's family seeks revenge, a shocking revelation comes to light, leading to a path of forgiveness," the summary concludes.
Between the lines: Though New Orleans will host the opera's world premiere, the Friday event includes three of its four acts.
- Later events in Washington, D.C., and New York will feature the full performance.
If you go: The production is a collaboration between New Orleans' own OperaCréole and Washington, D.C.–based Opera Lafayette with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the HNOC.
- The HNOC hosts a pre-concert lecture at 5pm Friday with Opera Lafayette's Joseph and Patrick Dupre Quigley, Dédé biographer Sally McKee and and musicologist Candace Bailey at HNOC's Williams Research Center at 410 Chartres St.
- The performance of "Morgiane" starts at 7:30pm at the St. Louis Cathedral. Details.