CCMusic.com

Jacqueline is powerful, award-winning new opera that dives into the real-life struggle between famed cellist Jacqueline du Pre and the multiple sclerosis that ravaged her body, mind, and talent - robbing her of her identity, her breathtaking musical gift, and ultimately her life. The story is brought to life by celebrated American soprano Marnie Breckenridge (as Jacqueline) and former du Pre protege and world-renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz, playing the role of her constant companion: her cello. GRAMMY-nominated composer Luna Pearl Woolf and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek chart the development of great prodigy and, ultimately, great tragedy. Told in four movements - I. Star Birth; II. Super Nova; III. Meteorite; IV. Impact - the opera references Haimovitz's personal recollections of du Pre herself.

Colorful and at times funny, raw, joyful and audacious, the form of the work echoes du Pre's iconic interpretation of Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto, using the concerto's four-movement structure to navigate a prismatic and passionate, if all too short, life in music.