- Six of the best recordings of Elgar\u2019s Cello Concerto<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Six of the best\u2026 cello works<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Six of the best cellists<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
Just seeing her face illuminated by pure inspiration, her long balletic bowing arm, the precision engineering of that wrist, her tremendous long fingers snapping down on the finger board, or executing those heart-stopping slides between notes \u2013 what she called her \u2018sumptuous glissandi\u2019 \u2013 makes you itch to play: her enjoyment remains infectious; everything seems possible.<\/span><\/p>\n
A<\/span>nd For Her it was. She almost makes us forget that, for even the greatest instrumentalists, performing is a continual battle with the body to recreate what the imagination demands. \u2018For us mortals, it\u2019s more difficult,\u2019 as her husband Daniel Barenboim comments on the same film. <\/span><\/p>\n
The veteran maestro has since acknowledged he learnt more about music from du Pr\u00e9 than from anyone else. Witnessing her performing can still have a powerful impact on the uninitiated, as Nupen himself knows: \u2018I was told of a four-year-old child in Canada recently who had cried for days after watching Jackie\u2019s Elgar Concerto. How do you explain that?\u2019 The fact she can still inspire a new generation is reason enough to keep returning to her legacy. But the films are important for another reason too: they capture the truth of her complex personality.<\/span><\/p>\n
A personal biography and controversy<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\""Jacqueline\"]( "\\"\"Jacqueline\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>British cellist Jacqueline du Pre in 1967. (Photo by Erich Auerbach\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n Just over 20 years ago, controversy raged when a book published by her brother Piers and sister Hilary, with Jan Young husband, A Genius in the Family: An Intimate Memoir<\/i> was turned into a feature film, Hilary and Jackie<\/i> \u2013 note who came first.<\/span><\/p>\n
It not only told the tragic tale of a virtuoso cut down in her prime by multiple sclerosis, but managed to produce an image of du Pr\u00e9 as an egotistic prima donna, who had never enjoyed life as a concert artist, and left family and friends trailing in her wake. Nupen is not alone in believing that damage was done to her reputation. Lord Menuhin and a host of former colleagues wrote a letter pleading that the film be stopped, but realised too late that their intervention had only given it more publicity. <\/span><\/p>\n
For du Pr\u00e9\u2019s friend and biographer, Elizabeth Wilson, it was a painful episode. She had been asked by Barenboim shortly after du Pre\u2019s death in 1987 to write an official biography. When she was ready to start work she visited Hilary and Piers in order to see if they wanted to collaborate. <\/span><\/p>\n
They felt that she wouldn\u2019t be giving them enough \u2018space\u2019 and in any case were considering writing their own. Despite discussions, access to the family archive was denied Wilson. \u2018It didn\u2019t stop me; I just had to work much harder and do more research; but it would have added an extra dimension to my book if they\u2019d agreed to cooperate. I had the feeling that they had embarked on a commercial enterprise with a personal agenda,\u2019 she recalls, \u2018The fact that there was no consultation with Barenboim about content made me quite suspicious.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n
Wilson acknowledges that the siblings had every right to recount the difficulties they experienced growing up with a prodigiously talented sister. What dismayed many was the sense that commercial pressures had made them divulge things Jackie would never have wanted made public. \u2018As a biographer one must try to be objective and describe various points of view. But the du Pr\u00e9s wrote their book knowing that Jackie could no longer defend herself.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n
Who was the real Jacqueline du Pre?<\/h2>\n
- Six of the best\u2026 cello works<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
![\""Jacqueline\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/24\/2021\/11\/Jacqueline-du-Pre\u0301-A-celebration-50f162f.jpg?quality=90&resize=551%2C413"\" "\\"\"Jacqueline\\"\/")
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