Great Performers: Jacqueline du Pré
One of the most prodigiously talented musicians of the 20th century, the English cellist Jacqueline du Pré was – and continues to be – an inspiration for young players, and particularly young women players. But gender is irrelevant: she was, quite simply, blessed with a musicality that's impossible to define.
Read more…"Those that the gods love, die young" takes on an even crueller dimension when it comes to Du Pré. She did indeed die young – at 42 – but the gods robbed her of her greatest gift, the ability to play her instrument, when she was only 28 years old.
Born in 1945 in Oxford, du Pré's musical gifts were spotted young and a succession of awards led to her studying at the Guildhall School of Music and also privately with William Pleeth, himself a very fine cellist. Private study with Paul Tortelier and Mstislav Rostropovich followed, both men in awe of her talent. She made her debut at London's prestigious Wigmore Hall aged 16 and the following year performed the Elgar Cello Concerto, a work with which she will always be linked, at the Royal Festival Hall. Soon she was in demand throughout the world at the highest level.
Among the many influential musicians in her life were the conductor Sir John Barbirolli, himself a former cellist, and the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim whom she met on Christmas Eve in 1966 and married the following summer. In Barbirolli she found a mentor and with Barenboim she found a soulmate of comparable musical gifts – not for nothing were they were known as music's Golden Couple. Together they would perform and record both in concerto and chamber music, and they were part of a group of hugely talented musicians that included Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta (a double bass-player before becoming a conductor).
The thunderbolt that ended Du Pré's career struck in 1972 when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; she had been experiencing a lack of sensitivity in her fingertips and had taken a sabbatical. She tried performing the following year but the disease had taken its toll. After performing for the last time, in New York in February 1973, she was never heard again in concert. Thankfully, her unique artistry was well represented on disc and her recordings remain cherishable glimpses of what she was like on stage.
What sort of player was she? The easy answer would be 'heart-on-sleeve' and she did play with a joy and overt passion that's palpable – just listen to her famous recordings of the Elgar concerto, or one of the Brahms sonatas. But she was also capable of great subtlety and inner poetry – the slow movement of Beethoven's "Ghost" Trio is a perfect example. For evidence of her dramatic gifts, just try Richard Strauss's 'Don Quixote', where she evokes the twists and turns of this endearing character with enchanting sensitivity.
Jacqueline du Pré was a classical musician who chimed with the vibe of the Swinging Sixties. Not only was she an inspiring figure but she was also a musician of profound insights. Her legacy is secure and her role in classical music in the late 20th century immeasurable.
[Due to geo-blocking restrictions, some tracks might be unavailable in certain territories.]