"Jackie O" is a rock opera about Jackie Onassis. The opera begins in 1968. John F. Kennedy has been dead for about five years and Jackie returns to society after a period of mourning: she is present at a party with guests such as Elisabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Andy Warhol and ... Aristotle Onassis with Maria Callas. Onassis gets into a fight with Callas and eventually leaves the party with Jackie.
The second act takes place a year later. The marriage between Jackie and Onassis has come to an end. Jackie sings a reconciling duet with her longtime rival Maria Callas. The opera ends with a duet between Jackie and her late husband Kennedy, who asks her forgiveness. The opera's librettist is Wayne Koestenbaum, who also wrote the book "Jackie Under My Skin: Interpreting an Icon". Michael Daugherty is a composer inspired by American pop culture. In "Jackie O" he lets the soloists sing in their own sound world: Jackie (Nicole Heaston) sings exotic, melancholic; Onassis (Eric Owens) has more of a Vegas sound; Maria Callas (Stephanie Novacek) sings classically; Elisabeth Taylor (Jonita Lattimore) is 'bleusy' and Grace Kelly (Joyce DiDonato) sounds more like Doris Day. It must have been a great challenge for the singers to combine the classical technique with pop elements. In any case, it has led to impressive results here and there, as with Jonita Lattimore, for example. The singers will be accompanied by the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra conducted by Christopher Larkin._ he lets the soloists sing in their own sound world: Jackie (Nicole Heaston) sings exotic, melancholic; Onassis (Eric Owens) has more of a Vegas sound; Maria Callas (Stephanie Novacek) sings classically; Elisabeth Taylor (Jonita Lattimore) is 'bleusy' and Grace Kelly (Joyce DiDonato) sounds more like Doris Day. It must have been a great challenge for the singers to combine the classical technique with pop elements. In any case, it has led to impressive results here and there, as with Jonita Lattimore, for example. The singers will be accompanied by the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra conducted by Christopher Larkin._ he lets the soloists sing in their own sound world: Jackie (Nicole Heaston) sings exotic, melancholic; Onassis (Eric Owens) has more of a Vegas sound; Maria Callas (Stephanie Novacek) sings classically; Elisabeth Taylor (Jonita Lattimore) is 'bleusy' and Grace Kelly (Joyce DiDonato) sounds more like Doris Day. It must have been a great challenge for the singers to combine the classical technique with pop elements. In any case, it has led to impressive results here and there, as with Jonita Lattimore, for example. The singers will be accompanied by the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra conducted by Christopher Larkin._ Maria Callas (Stephanie Novacek) sings classically; Elisabeth Taylor (Jonita Lattimore) is 'bleusy' and Grace Kelly (Joyce DiDonato) sounds more like Doris Day. It must have been a great challenge for the singers to combine the classical technique with pop elements. In any case, it has led to impressive results here and there, as with Jonita Lattimore, for example. The singers will be accompanied by the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra conducted by Christopher Larkin._ Maria Callas (Stephanie Novacek) sings classically; Elisabeth Taylor (Jonita Lattimore) is 'bleusy' and Grace Kelly (Joyce DiDonato) sounds more like Doris Day. It must have been a great challenge for the singers to combine the classical technique with pop elements. In any case, it has led to impressive results here and there, as with Jonita Lattimore, for example. The singers will be accompanied by the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra conducted by Christopher Larkin._more
