Classical comeback of Ofra Harnoy
Acclaimed cellist feels good as new after having her shoulder rebuilt
Most artists of cellist Ofra Harnoy’s calibre bristle at the term “comeback.” It suggests they fell into irrelevancy and must now prove themselves again.
But in her case, she can’t think of another word. For most of the past decade, Harnoy has barely played the instrument that brought her acclaim.
Her love of intense performing had left her shoulder a tattered mess by 2011. She could barely hold a bow.
Surgery wouldn’t be for four more years. Then a long recovery followed. All the while, Harnoy felt like she was suffocating.
“It wasn’t just a profession for me, it was a deep part of who I am,” says the five-time Juno winner from her home in St. John’s, N.L. “When I couldn’t make music, it was like I couldn’t breathe.
“It was a really, really tough time for me, and to try and think of how to reinvent myself without having music just did not seem possible.”
Harnoy’s Bravo Niagara show at St. Mark’s Anglican Church this Saturday is her first Niagara concert in several years. In fact, most everywhere she plays now is her first visit in a while.
Playing anywhere, ever again, was not a certainty for her.
When she first arrived in the early 1980s, Harnoy was a revelation in classical music, becoming Canada’s first classical soloist since Glenn Gould to earn a worldwide contract with a major record label.
She toured as hard as she played, releasing dozens of albums while sharing the stage with Sting, Placido Domingo and Loreena McKennitt.
But it came with a price. After taking time off to care for her ailing mother and raise a family of her own, Harnoy returned to performing in 2011 but felt awful pain in her right shoulder.
An MRI scan confirmed the worst. “They actually had no idea how I was even using the arm, because every single tendon was severed.”
Performing was impossible. And there was no guarantee surgery would bring her back to playing form. So she waited four years to go under the knife.
“I kept hoping there would be something that would turn things around for me,” she says. “Amazingly enough, a surgeon in Texas basically rebuilt my shoulder.”
Now, feeling stronger than ever, Harnoy is reclaiming her turf. Fans have flocked to her comeback shows, and the new shoulder has prompted the new album “Back to Bach,” her first release in 20 years.
For her first post-surgery show at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre last November, Harnoy felt “no pain” during the long rehearsals.
“When I finished the concert, I finished the two encores, I felt like I could just go back on stage and start over again,” she says. “It was just an incredible high to be back performing and playing.”
When she’s reminded her love of constant playing is what ruined her shoulder to begin with, Harnoy chuckles in response — she knows, and she’s prepared.
“Now I have a very rigorous routine that I follow of working out, so I feel much more balanced. I just don’t overwork the muscles that I use to play the cello, I work all the muscles around them to support them.”