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The five-scene, 90-minute opera opens, as Clara, attended by two of her eight children, lies dying and haunted by visions of dead family members including three of her children, her husband, and her tyrannical teacher-father. Librettist Cahill, who was the point of ignition for this opera, tells the story of Clara's tumultuous life using three actors to represent the dying Clara, the young Clara, and the performer-at-the-piano Clara, running backwards in time. The five scenes, which reveal a professionally driven woman tormented by the people who loved her, are separated by four piano interludes that feature music by Schumann and Brahms.
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