cello – Page 2 – Luna Pearl Woolf

Ludwig van Toronto: SCRUTINY | Emotional Power And Bravura Performance In Tapestry Opera’s Jacqueline

By Joseph So February 20, 2020

Marnie Breckenridge in Tapestry Opera's Jacqueline (Photo : Dahlia Katz) — Marnie Breckenridge in Tapestry Opera’s Jacqueline (Photo : Dahlia Katz)

Woolf: Jacqueline / Marnie Breckenridge, soprano; Matt Haimovitz, cello. Betty Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis St., Toronto. 8 p.m. February 19, 2020.

For devotees of the cello, few artists past or present capture the imagination quite like Jacqueline du Pré (1945-1987). In a performing career that lasted barely a decade before she was struck down by multiple sclerosis at the age of 28, du Pré left an indelible imprint on the musical world with her dazzling artistry and incandescent personality.

Arguably the work most associated with her was the Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85. I didn’t have the good fortune of hearing her live, but her recorded performances and interpretations of this work, both in the studio and in live performances, remain the gold standard. In the various video clips, one is struck by the radiant expression on her face, one that exudes the purest joy of music-making. The musical world is fortunate to have her art preserved for posterity.

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Opera Wire: Tapestry Opera to Present World Premiere of Opera Inspired by Jacqueline Du Pré

By: David Salazar February 19, 2020

Tapestry Opera is set to present the world premiere of “Jacqueline: A Portrait of Virtuosity” starting on Feb. 19, 2020 at the Betty Oliphant Theatre in Toronto, Canada.

The opera, which is written by Royce Vavrek with music by Luna Pearl, tells the story of iconic cellist Jacqueline Du Pré and her battle with the multiple sclerosis that ultimately took her life. The piece is written for soprano and cello with Marnie Breckenridge performing alongside cellist Matt Haimovitz, who will play Du Pré’s own instrument.

The piece’s structure is deeply indebted to Elgar’s famous cello concerto, a piece for which Du Pré was most famous, her interpretation heavily imitated for decades since she first played the work. The opera also includes Haimovitz’s popular recollections of the cellist.

There will be a total of five performances of the work running through the 23^rd.

Read it at Opera Wire

The Canadian Jewish News: OPERA EXPLORES THE TRAGIC LIFE OF FAMED CELLIST

By Toby Saltzman – February 17, 2020

“Luna is a story-teller, completely immersed in the operatic world. She was inspired by the depth of my relationship with Jacqueline to tell the story of Jacqui before it’s too late.”
-Cellist Matt Haimovitz

When Matt Haimovitz performs at the world premiere of Tapestry Opera’s Jacqueline: a portrait of virtuosity, the audience can anticipate music that resonates with the poignant timbre of the famed cellist’s intimate association with Jacqueline du Pré as her young protégé.

Rising from a young prodigy herself, to peak fame as one of the world’s greatest virtuosi and ultimately succumbing to a tragic finale, English cellist du Pré was recognized in her prime as an exquisitely talented female soloist.

At the heart of du Pré’s life, strings a loving relationship with celebrated pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim that blossomed in Israel. The story goes that in 1967 – while the couple were performing concerts before, during and after the Six-Day War – du Pré felt such an overwhelming connection to Judaism as a musician that she converted to Judaism to marry Barenboim. Tragedy struck in 1971 when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She died at 42 in October 1987 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Golders Green in London.

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Classical FM Interview: Tapestry Opera’s “Jacqueline” Tells the Story of Virtuosic Cellist Jacqueline du Pré’s Fall to M.S.

By: Classical FM February 13, 2020

From February 19th to 23rd Tapestry Opera heads to the Betty Oliphant Theatre for its presentation of Jacqueline: A Portrait of Virtuosity.

The pieces dives into the real-life struggle between celebrity virtuosic cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the multiple sclerosis that ravaged her body, mind, and talent, robbing her of her identity, her musical gift, and her life.

This intimate piece for soprano and cello brings two contemporary virtuosi to the stage: celebrated American soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Jacqueline, and renowned cellist (and former du Pré protégé) Matt Haimovitz playing du Pré’s only constant companion, her cello.

Jacqueline is inspired by the structure and emotional landscape of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The form of the work echoes du Pré’s iconic interpretation of the Elgar, using the concerto’s four-movement structure to navigate an all too short life in music.

Cellist Matt Haimovitz and Luna Pearl Woolf who is responsible for this productions’ music joined Mark Wigmore on The Oasis.

Read and listen to the interview at Classical FM

TheWholeNote Editor’s Corner – February 2020 | Luna Pearl Woolf: Fire and Flood

Written by David Olds January 27, 2020

“A wonderful cross-section of Woolf’s vocal writing that bodes well for the new opera.”

This month Tapestry presents the world premiere of American composer Luna Pearl Woolf’s latest opera, Jacqueline. Coinciding with this is the Pentatone release of Woolf’s Fire and Flood on the Oxingale label (PTC5186803 naxosdirect.com). This striking vocal disc features mostly recent works for a cappella choir (the Choir of Trinity Wall Street) with soloists in several instances and, in the most memorable selection, Après moi, le déluge, obbligato cello (Matt Haimovitz). After a virtuosic cello cadenza, this work develops into a bluesy and occasionally meditative telling of the story of Noah and the Flood which culminates in the gospel-tinged Lord, I’m goin’ down in Louisiana before gently subsiding. After a rousing arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s Everybody Knows for vocal trio and cello, comes a modern-sounding but fairly tonal Missa in Fines Orbis Terrae with the choir accompanied by Messiaen-like organ (Avi Stein). The vocal trio (sopranos Devon Guthrie and Nancy Anderson with mezzo Elise Quagliata) return for One to One to One, in this instance accompanied by the low strings (three cellos and three basses) of NOVUS NY. Having begun with the close harmonies, murmurs, shouts and extended vocal techniques of the a cappella To the Fire with full choir, the disc ends with the vocal trio once again joined by Haimovitz for a raucous setting of Cohen’s Who by Fire to close out an exceptional disc. A wonderful cross-section of Woolf’s vocal writing that bodes well for the new opera.

Read it on thewholenote.com

Stage-Door.com: Tapestry Opera presents “Jacqueline”, the story of Jacqueline du Pré, February 19-23

By: Stage Door News January 7, 2020

Tapestry Opera presents the world premiere of Jacqueline, a story of the battle between a world-famous virtuoso cellist and the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) that took her body and talent, robbing her of her breathtaking musical gift, her identity, and ultimately her life. Jacqueline runs at the Betty Oliphant Theatre from February 19 – 23, 2020.

Considered among the best musicians in the world for her passionate interpretations and flawless technique, du Pré was a trailblazer for female soloists and a rare prodigy. When she began experiencing numbness in her fingers at age 24, her doctor dismissed it as psychological fatigue until she was correctly diagnosed with MS nearly four years later. A harrowing, darkly humourous, and emotionally sensitive exploration of what it means to have a singular talent unravel, Jacqueline journeys through the life and trials of one of classical music’s greatest figures.

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Cellist Matt Haimovitz to perform Bach Suites: A Moveable Feast

March 7, 2019

ATHENS, Ga. —UGA Presents is bringing cellist Matt Haimovitz to Athens to perform Bach’s complete suites for unaccompanied cello in a two-day event he calls “A Moveable Feast.” On Apr. 3 and 4 Haimovitz will perform pop-up concerts in locations around Athens, culminating in a Hodgson Concert Hall performance on Apr. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
For his Moveable Feast, Haimovitz has commissioned preludes from contemporary composers to accompany each of Bach’s suites. The Apr. 4 Hodgson Hall concert will feature Bach’s Suite I with prelude by Philip Glass, Suite III with prelude by Vijay Iyer and Suite VI with prelude by Luna Pearl Woolf.

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Ludwig van Montréal: Review | A cello concerto by Schubert? Believe it.

By Arthur Kaptainis 25 mai, 2018

Matt Haimovitz (Credit: Brent Callis)

Chamber orchestras have long relied on transcriptions to shore up their limited repertory. Jean-Marie Zeitouni and I Musici de Montréal brought their season to a close on Thursday in Bourgie Hall with a program dominated by such works.

Including, it must be said, a real novelty: Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata. Fans of chamber music will recognize this as the one and only composition of merit for the dodo-like instrument of the title, which became extinct not long after its invention in 1823.

Could the piece work as a concerto for cello and strings? It could and did in a version created by Luna Pearl Woolf for her husband Matt Haimovitz, who was the featured soloist of the evening. Through judicious use of mutes in the Adagio and pizzicato in the finale, Woolf fashioned a string accompaniment that was both faithful to the piano original and idiomatic on its own account.

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The Suburban: Cellist Matt Haimovitz guests with I Musici de Montréal May 24

By The Suburban May 22, 2018

Cellist Matt Haimovitz joins I Musici de Montréal and conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni for works by Schubert and Ernst Bloch, on Thursday, May 24 at 8 pm at Salle Bourgie.

The Grammy-nominated cellist is acclaimed for his visionary approach, ground-breaking collaborations and innovative recording projects, which he combines with a tireless touring schedule, and with mentoring an award-winning studio at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.

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New York Times: When Musicians Get Up and Move

By CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM JULY 28, 2017

…If opera singers are expected to move about the stage and interact with other performers, Ms. Woolf argued, so could string players. “When we hear a musical phrase, we hear a statement of language,” she said. “We all are in the business of emotional storytelling — with everything we have.”…

A Victorian dictum, now out of fashion, states that children should be seen, not heard. The opposite might be said of the 19th-century concert setup: Players were to be heard, not seen — or at least not draw attention to themselves.

But that view is changing as well. Continue reading “New York Times: When Musicians Get Up and Move” →