Jackie O is a pop opera composed by
Michael Daugherty, performed live at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna under the direction of Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Christopher Franklin. Released in 2008 on DVD by Dynamic, this work belongs to the contemporary classical music stream, blending elements of high symphonic tradition with popular culture idioms from the late 1960s, such as rock, jazz, and avant-garde improvisation. The opera portrays the dramatic transformation of Jackie Kennedy Onassis into an American icon after JFK's death, through music filled with
drama, suspense, sudden timbral shifts, and contrasts between consonance and dissonance. Key performers include soprano Fiona McAndrew as Jackie, Nora Sourouzian, and baritone Simone Alberghini, supported by the ensemble of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Teatro Rossini di Lugo.
Daugherty's score heightens the spectacle with elaborate orchestration, intimate solo arias, polyrhythmic counterpoint, and percussive effects evoking telephones, sirens, and paparazzi, while the chorus functions like a Greek ensemble or 1960s TV variety show. Duets feature mirror-image melodies and vocal tours de force, emphasizing the human voice with unique sound worlds for each character. The orchestra employs unusual instruments like funky guitar, Hammond organ, and flutter-tongued brass to create multi-layered complexity, reflecting on operatic traditions revived in an American context. This DVD captures the world premiere staging of the 1997 opera, offering a vivid exploration of public versus
private personas amid celebrity culture.
