Jacqueline du Pré

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Jacqueline du Pré
Jacqueline du Pré with the Davydov Stradivarius and Daniel Barenboim
Background information
Birth name	Jacqueline Mary du Pré
Born	January 26, 1945 Oxford, England, UK
Died	October 19, 1987 (age 42) London, England, UK
Genre(s)	Classical
Occupation(s)	Cellist
Instrument(s)	Violoncello
Years active	fl.ca. 1961-1973
Website	www.JacquelineduPre.net
Notable instrument(s)
Violoncello Stradivari 1673 David Tecchler 1696c Davydov 1712 Stradivarius Francesco Gofriller Sergio Peresson 1970

Jacqueline Mary du Pré, O.B.E. (January 26, 1945 – October 19, 1987), a British cellist, acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of the instrument.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 3 Awards 4 Marriage 5 MS diagnosis 6 References 7 Selected discography 8 On DVD 9 External Links

[edit] Early years

Born in Oxford, England, on 26 January 1945, Jacqueline du Pré was the second child of Derek du Pré, an accountant, and pianist Iris du Pré. At age four du Pré heard the sound of the cello on the radio and asked her mother for "one of those". She started with lessons from her mother, who composed little pieces accompanied by illustrations, before beginning study at the London Violoncello School at age five. Before long she was entering and winning local music competitions alongside her sister Hilary du Pré. Du Pré’s main teacher, from 1955 to 1961, was the celebrated cellist William Pleeth. Subsequently she also participated in a Pablo Casals masterclass in Zermatt, Switzerland in 1960, as well as short-term studies with Paul Tortelier in Paris in 1962, and with Mstislav Rostropovich in Russia in 1966.

[edit] Career

In 1961 at age 16, Du Pré was given her first Stradivarius, 1673 Antonio by an unknown admirer.^[1] She made her formal début in March 1961 at Wigmore Hall, London, playing the Edward Elgar Cello Concerto for Violoncello in E minor. This appearance and the recording of the same concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli made her world famous.

She made her concerto début in 1962 at Royal Festival Hall playing the Elgar Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Rudolf Schwarz. She performed at The Proms in 1963 playing the Elgar Concerto again, with Sir Malcolm Sargent. Her performance of proved so popular she subsequently returned three years in succession to perform. Du Pré became a favourite at the Proms, performing in the British festival every year until 1969.

In 1965, at age 20, du Pré recorded the Elgar Concerto for EMI with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli, which brought her international recognition. This recording has since become the benchmark reference for the work, and one which has never been out of print since its release over forty years ago. Du Pré also performed the Elgar with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Antal Dorati for her United States début in at Carnegie Hall on May 14 1965.

Throughout her career, du Pré performed with the most prestigious orchestras and conductors, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, New Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She regularly performed with conductors such as Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, and Leonard Bernstein.

Du Pré predominantly played two Stradivarius cellos, the 1673 Antonio and the 1712 Davydov given to her by her godmother, Ismena Holland. She performed with the 1673 Stradivarius until 1964 when she acquired the Davydov. Many of her most famous recordings were made on this instrument including the Elgar Concerto with Barbirolli, the Schumann Cello Concerto with Barenboim and the two Brahms Cello Sonatas. From 1969 to 1970 du Pré played a Francesco Gofriller cello, and in 1970 acquired a modern instrument from the Philadelphia violin maker Sergio Peresson. It was the Peresson cello that du Pré played for the remainder of her career until 1973, including the live recording of the Elgar Concerto, and her last studio recording in 1971 of the sonatas of Frederic Chopin and César Franck.

Her friendship with musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, and Pinchas Zukerman, and marriage to Daniel Barenboim, led to many memorable chamber music performances, and the 1969 performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London of the Schubert Piano Quintet (the "Trout"), also resulted in a film, made by Christopher Nupen. Nupen made other films featuring du Pré; Jacqueline, a 1967 documentary featuring a live performance of the Elgar Concerto, and the Ghost, with Barenboim and Zukerman in a performance of the Piano Trio, Op. 70, no. 1 in D Major by Ludwig Beethoven.

[edit] Awards

Du Pré received several fellowships from music academies and honorary doctorate degrees from universities, in acknowledgment of her contribution to music. She was the first and youngest recipient of the prestigious Guilhermina Suggia Award, at age ten. 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. At the 1977 Brit Awards, she won the award for the best classical soloist album of the past 25 years for Elgar's Cello Concerto.

[edit] Marriage

Jacqueline du Pré met pianist Daniel Barenboim on New Year's eve in 1966. Their marriage in June 1967, after the Six-Day War in Israel, for which she converted to Judaism, later brought about one of the most fruitful relationships in the world of music; some commentators have compared this musical marriage 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.

Du Pré’s sister Hilary was married to conductor Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi, with whom Jacqueline had an affair from 1971 to 1972. According to Hilary and her brother Piers in their book, A Genius in the Family, published in America as Hilary and Jackie, the affair was conducted with Hilary's consent as a way of helping Jacqueline through a nervous breakdown. Reportedly, Hilary asked Jacqueline to sleep with Kiffer during her separation from Barenboim. In 1999 Clare Finzi, the daughter of Kiffer and Hilary, publicly criticised her mother's account and laid out a different version of events, in which her father was a serial adulterer who seduced her emotionally vulnerable aunt in a time of great need in order to gratify his own ego.

Anand Tucker's controversial 1998 film Hilary and Jackie is based on A Genius in the Family, and features Emily Watson as Jacqueline and Rachel Griffiths as Hilary. Although it was a critical and box-office success, even receiving an Academy Award nomination, the film was derided by du Pré’s close friends and associates as being completely untruthful of the person they knew.

[edit] MS diagnosis

In 1971, Jacqueline du Pré’s playing began an irreversible decline when she began to lose sensitivity in her fingers, as well as in other parts of her body.

She took a sabbatical in 1971 until 1972, recording her last studio album of sonatas by Chopin and Franck in December 1971. Although she did perform during her sabbatical, they were very rare occurrences.

In 1973 du Pré resumed her concert activities, but by this time, the symptoms had become severe. In January 1973 she toured North America and some of the concert reviews from that period were less than complimentary. It was an indication that her condition had worsened, although there were moments of brief respite from the symptoms, during which she played without noticeable problems. She performed the Elgar Concerto for her last London concerts in February 1973 with Zubin Mehta and the New Philharmonia Orchestra.

Her last public concerts were in New York in February 1973, where she was scheduled for four performances of the Brahms Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman, and Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Du Pré later recalled that she had problems judging the weight of the bow, and even opening the cello case had become difficult. As she had lost sensation in her fingers, she had to rely visually, to know where she had to play on the fingerboard. Although she managed three of the four dates, she canceled the last performance. Isaac Stern stepped in to replace du Pré, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

In October 1973 multiple sclerosis was diagnosed, the disease that caused her health to deteriorate until her death in London on October 19, 1987, at age 42.

She left her Davydov Stradivarius to Yo-Yo Ma, while Lynn Harrell acquired the 1673 Stradivarius naming it the du Pré Stradivarius as a tribute. The 1970 Peresson cello is currently on loan to Kyril Zlotnikov, cellist of the Jerusalem Quartet.^{[citation needed]}

After du Pré’s death, an English rose was named after her.

[edit] References

[edit] Selected discography

• Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture:Cockaigne. Janet Baker. London Symphony Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli EMI 0724356288720
• Brahms: Cello Sonatas. Daniel Barenboim EMI 0724356275829
• Haydn Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2/ Boccherini Cello Concerto in B flat. English Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim. London Symphony Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli EMI 0724356694828
• Beethoven: Piano Trios Opp.1 & 97 / Variations and Allegrettos. Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman EMI 0094635079821
• Beethoven: Piano Trio Op.70/Cello Sonatast No 3 & 5. Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman (Trio), Stephen Kovacevich (sonatas) EMI 0094635080728
• Jacqueline du Pré - The Early BBC Recordings. EMI 0724358623628
• Beethoven: Cello Sonatas. Daniel Barenboim EMI 0724358624229
• Brahms/Chopin/Franck:Cello Sonatas. Daniel Barenboim EMI 0724358623321
• Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B Minor/Schumann:Cello Concerto in A Minor New Philharmonia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim EMI 0724356280526

[edit] On DVD

• Remembering Jacqueline Du Pré (1994), directed by Christopher Nupen
• Jacqueline du Pré In Portrait (2004), directed by Christopher Nupen
• The Trout (2005), directed by Christopher Nupen
• Hilary and Jackie (1998), dramatised portrait directed by Anand Tucker

[edit] External Links

• Jacqueline du Pré Official website
• Jacqueline Du Pré Fansite
• Jacqueline Du Pré Biography at Answers.com