Jacqueline Mary du Pré (1945-1987) was an English cellist.

Jacqueline du Pré

Born in Oxford, England, on January 26, 1945, Jacqueline du Pré is acknowledged as one of the greatest cellists who ever lived. She had a successful career until her death from multiple sclerosis.

Early years

Du Pré was 4 years old when she heard the cello for the first time, on the radio. From then on the sound of the instrument never left her life, starting with lessons from her mother Iris du Pré. Two years later, she started receiving lessons at a London cello school and entering music competitions alongside her sister. At ten years old she won a prize at an international competition, and by the age of twelve she was performing in concerts for the BBC in London. She studied under William Pleeth at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, under Paul Tortelier in Paris, under Rostropovich in Russia, and under Casals in Switzerland.

Career

Throughout her career, du Pré performed with prestigious orchestras and soloists. In particular, her recording with the London Symphony Orchestra of the Elgar concerto in 1961 brought her international recognition. For this performance, she used her first Stradivarius -- "the Davidov" -- which was given to her by admirer, Ismena Holland. The 1965 recording under Sir John Barbirolli is equally esteemed.

In 1965, du Pré played the Elgar concerto at her first appearance in the USA on May 14 at the Carnegie Hall.

Her friendship with musicians Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman and Daniel Barenboim led to the famous film by Christopher Nupen of their Schubert "Trout" Quintet. She left her 1712 Davidoff Stradivarius to Yo-Yo Ma.

Awards

Du Pré received several fellowships from music academies and honorary doctorate degrees from Universities, as an acknowledgment of her talent. In 1960, she won the gold medal of the Guildhall School of Music in London and the Queen's Prize for British musicians. She was created an OBE in 1976.

Marriage

In the Christmas of 1966, Jacqueline met pianist Daniel Barenboim. Their marriage one year later brought about one of the most fruitful relationships in the world of music: some consider it comparable only to that of Clara and Robert Schumann. This was evidenced by the many performances of du Pré with Barenboim as either a pianist or orchestral conductor. She converted to Judaism for the marriage.

Jacqueline's sister, Hilary, was married to the conductor, Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi, with whom Jacqueline had an affair. The affair had Hilary's consent: the circumstances were later explained candidly, in the memoire Hilary and Jackie, co-written by Hilary and her brother Piers du Pré.

The disease

In 1973, the passionate sound of Jacqueline du Pré's cello started its irreversible decline, when the artist began to lose sensitivity in her fingers. It was the start of multiple sclerosis, the disease that caused her health to deteriorate until her death in London on October 19, 1987, at the age of 42.

In the last years of du Pre's life, Barenboim secretly set up home in Paris with pianist Elena Bashkirova, and fathered two children by her. They married in 1988.

The significance of du Pré's position among cellists

Jacqueline du Pré played with an inspired eloquence which few have rivaled. Her recordings of the Haydn concertos, Monn concerto, Dvorak, Schumann, Elgar, and others reveal a rare and profound voice reflecting a universal and transcendent truth that only a genius can touch. And inevitably, her interpretations are not universally accepted. While other musicians may have a legacy of mastery and virtuosity, she has left a glimpse of the eternal, and this cannot be taken away from her, whatever qualms some might have over her interpretations. Let us not forget the words of the great Albert Einstein, "Great spirits have always been met with violent opposition from mediocre minds". Finally, Jacqueline Du Pré was neither sophisticated nor intellectually driven. However, these qualities in art are quickly forgotten as time passes, and what her music contains is not.

See also

Hilary du Pré, Piers du Pré; A Genius in the Family: Intimate Memoir of Jacqueline du Pré. ISBN: 1856197530. Since the 1998 film, this book is also published under the title: Hilary and Jackie.

Anand Tucker's film Hilary and Jackie (1998) is about the lives of the sisters Hilary and Jacqueline du Pré, based on the memoirs, A Genius in the Family.