An opera about Jacqueline du Pr\u00e9, an exceptional cellist whose performing career was ended at the age of 26 by multiple sclerosis, is hardly surprising. The story of this shooting star of music, an extraordinary talent, has a very dramatic ring to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her death in 1987 at the age of 42 was the musical equivalent of Diana’s for the British monarchy. Her celebrated relationship with pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has been seen and perceived as a reincarnation of that between Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck. The difference is that Barenboim left du Pr\u00e9 after a few years of marriage to start a new life, something for which he was often criticized. To his credit, he accompanied Jacqueline in the last moments of her short life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In any case, it should come as no surprise that this meteoric life has been adapted for the stage. Montrealer Luna Pearl Woolf has taken on this task, with the support of renowned librettist Royce Vavrek (JFK<\/em>, presented in Montreal a few years ago). This is an almost entirely Canadian production, as Vavrek is Canadian and studied at Concordia University in Montreal. Jacqueline <\/em>was commissioned for Toronto’s Tapestry Opera and premiered there in 2020, while the present recording was made at McGill’s Schulich School in Montreal. Only two artists are on stage: Matt Haimovitz from Montreal on cello and Marnie Breckenridge, the only non-Canadian (she’s American), a soprano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n