Pirouette

Pirouette

Pirouette. One-act opera by Marthe Morisset-Blackburn (libretto) and Maurice Blackburn (music). It was a JMC commission (1960) and was premiered 30 Jul 1960 at the JMC Orford Art Centre with Cécile Vallée as Béatrice, Pierre Boutet as Jean, and Gilles Lamontagne as Michael, with Charles Reiner at the piano. The story of Pirouette turns upon the chance meeting in Rome of three Canadian music students, Béatrice, her brother Jean, and Michael, and the friendships that develop despite various comic misadventures. Paired with Blackburn's Une Mesure de silence (Silent Measures) it received about 100 performances across Canada during a 1960-1 JMC tour. Three excerpts from Pirouette, by the original cast with Jacqueline Richard at the piano, were recorded for release on a 45-rpm disc by JMC (CD-JMC 7).