We saw the world premiere of Jacqueline, an opera about the tragic life of Jacqueline du Pré. Du Pré was a phenomenal cellist (see her perform the Elgar Cello Concerto with her husband, Daniel Barenboim, conducting) who, at the age of 28, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and lost her ability to perform. She passed away in 1987 at the age of 42.

The opera is unusually intimate, performed by just two people—a soprano (Marnie Breckenridge, who was on a recent episode of This Is Your Mixtape) and a cellist (Matt Haimovitz, who knew du Pré when he was young). It was composed by Luna Pearl Woolf with libretto by Royce Vavrek and produced by Tapestry Opera (who also produced last year’s excellent Shawnadithit).

Chris and Michael gushed about the opera immediately after seeing it.