Luna Pearl Woolf – Page 3 – 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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The Strad: Opera based on cellist Jacqueline du Pré’s life opens in Toronto

19 FEBRUARY 2020

‘Jacqueline’, with music by Luna Pearl Woolf, features the playing of Matt Haimovitz alongside soprano Marnie Breckenridge in the title role.

The world premiere of a new opera based on the life of British cellist Jacqueline du Pré opens on 19 February at the Betty Oliphant Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Featuring soprano Marnie Breckenridge in the title role, the opera also includes music played by cellist Matt Haimovitz – who spent a week with du Pré in London when he was 14.

Composer Luna Pearl Woolf was inspired to write the opera from hearing Haimovitz’s account of his relationship with du Pré. The opera is structured in four movements, in reference to Elgar’s Cello Concerto, the work most closely associated with du Pré. The soprano and cellist interact with each other throughout the performance, bringing together ’her voice, her truest sense of self, and her constant companion’, according to the composer. ’It is beautiful in a way,’ says director Michael Hidetoshi Mori. ’Marnie without Matt could not play Jacqueline, Matt without Marnie could not play Jacqueline, yet together they combine to realise something of her essence, life and struggle and in separating, her tragedy.’

The opera runs for five performances until 23 February. More information can be found here.

Read it at The Strad

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

Ludwig van Toronto: 12 Concerts You Absolutely Need to See This Week in Toronto

By Joseph So on February 17, 2020

concert events, Toronto, Feb 17 - 23, 2020

Critic’s Picks (February 17 – 23)

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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

The Whole Note: New Opera for Soprano and Cello Promises Multilinear Magic

Written by Jennifer Parr Category: Music Theatre Published: 30 January 2020

Marnie Breckenridge and Matt Haimovitz. Photo by Dahlia Katz

Toward the end of January I was invited to sit in on an early staging rehearsal of the new opera, Jacqueline, gaining a rare glimpse into the creation of this experimental world premiere that explores the life and legacy of celebrity virtuoso cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who, at 23, began experiencing numbness in her fingers, at 28 was diagnosed with MS and stopped playing the cello, and in 1987 passed away at age 42.

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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

The Little OPERA Theatre Of NY Presents PAST AND PRESENT: SCENES FROM AMERICAN OPERAS

by BWW News Desk June 3, 2019

The little OPERA theatre of NY will present a FREE concert of scenes from American operas in collaboration with Bronx Opera and operamission. The concert will showcase the diversity of music and stories written for the opera stage by both native born and immigrant composers and librettists. The concert will take place outdoors on Governors Island in Nolan Park, in front of building 25. The performance is at 5pm and is FREE to the public. (Rain date: Sunday, June 23 at 4pm.)

Each of the three companies will present excerpts from operas with singers and piano. The little OPERA theatre of ny will showcase Luna Pearl Woolf and Caitlin Vincent’s Better Gods, which tells the story of the last Queen of Hawaii, Lili’uokalani, and the annexation of the island in 1898. Operamission will focus on two classic American operas written by immigrant composers: The Rake’s Progress by Igor Stravinsky and the melting pot opera Street Scene by Kurt Weill. Bronx Opera will present Marc Blitzstein‘s Regina based upon the play The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman.

Read at Broadway World

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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