Jacqueline du Pré

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Jacqueline du Pré
Jacqueline du Pré with the Davydov Stradivarius and Daniel Barenboim
Jacqueline du Pré with the Davydov Stradivarius and Daniel Barenboim
Background information
Birth name Jacqueline Mary du Pré
Born January 26, 1945(1945-01-26)
Oxford, England, UK
Died October 19, 1987 (aged 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
1673 Antonio Stradivarius
David Tecchler 1696
Davydov Stradivarius 1712
Francesco Gofriller
Sergio Peresson 1970

Jacqueline Mary du Pré, O.B.E. (January 26, 1945 – October 19, 1987) was an English cellist, today acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of the instrument. She is particularly associated with the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor; her interpretation of this work has been described as "definitive" and "legendary".[1] Following her premature death from multiple sclerosis in 1987, a book about her family life was written by her sister Hilary du Pré and brother Piers, which formed the basis for the movie Hilary and Jackie which aroused fierce controversy.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Born in Oxford, England, du Pré was the second child of Derek and Iris du Pré. Derek du Pré was born in Jersey, where his family had lived for generations. After having worked as an accountant at the Lloyds Bank in St Helier and London for eleven years he became assistant editor, and later the editor, of The Accountant. Her mother, born Iris Greep, was a talented pianist, and taught at the Royal Academy in London.[2] At age four du Pré is said to have 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. Her first teacher was Alison Dalrymple.

Before long she was entering and winning local music competitions alongside her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré. Du Pré’s main teacher, from 1955 to 1961, both privately and at the Guildhall School of Music in London, 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. So impressed was the legendary Rostropovich with his young pupil that at the end of her study with him, he declared her "the only cellist of the younger generation that could equal and overtake [his] own achievement."[3]

[edit] Career

In March 1961, at age sixteen, du Pré made her formal début at Wigmore Hall, London, and she made her concerto début in 1962 at Royal Festival Hall playing the Elgar Cello 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 the concerto proved so popular she subsequently returned three years in succession to perform the work. Du Pré became a favourite at the Proms, performing in the British festival every year until 1969.

In 1965, at age twenty, 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 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 Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, and Leonard Bernstein.

Du Pré primarily played two Stradivari cellos, the instrument of 1673, and the 1712 Davidov Stradivarius. Both instruments were gifts from her godmother, Ismena Holland. She performed with the 1673 Stradivarius from 1961 until 1964 when she acquired the Davidov. Many of her most famous recordings were made on this instrument, including the Elgar Concerto with Barbirolli, the Robert Schumann Cello Concerto with Barenboim and the two Brahms cello sonatas. From 1969 to 1970 du Pré played a Francesco Goffriller cello, and in 1970 she 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 a second, live recording of the Elgar Concerto, and her last studio recording in 1971 of the sonatas by Frederic Chopin and César Franck.

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

[edit] Personal life

Jacqueline du Pré met pianist Daniel Barenboim on New Year's Eve in 1966. They were married the following June (1967) at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Their marriage, for which she converted to Judaism, brought about one of the most fruitful relationships in the world of music; some commentators have compared this musical marriage to that of Robert and Clara Schumann. This was evidenced by the many performances of du Pré with Barenboim as either a pianist or 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, which was made into the film Hilary and Jackie, the affair was conducted with Hilary's consent as a way of helping Jacqueline through a nervous breakdown.[4] In 1999, Clare Finzi, the daughter of Kiffer and Hilary, publicly criticized 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.

In the early 1980s, Barenboim began a relationship with the Russian pianist Elena Bashkirova, with whom he had two sons: David Arthur (born 1982), a manager-writer for the German hip-hop band Level 8, and Michael Barenboim (born 1985), a violinist. Both were born in Paris prior to Du Pré's death. Barenboim tried to keep the relationship with Bashkirova hidden from Du Pré. He has said that the press were kind, as he thinks some of them knew, but did not want to cause added distress to Jacqueline.

[edit] Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

In 1971, Jacqueline du Pré’s playing began an irreversible decline due to multiple sclerosis 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 that 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 Felix Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

Jacqueline du Pre with Julian Lloyd Webber at the Barbican Centre, London, in 1984 after his concert in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society
Jacqueline du Pre with Julian Lloyd Webber at the Barbican Centre, London, in 1984 after his concert in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society

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

The Davidov Stradivarius, purchased for slightly over a million pounds, is on loan to Yo-Yo Ma, while the 1673 Stradivarius, named the du Pré Stradivarius by Lynn Harrell as a tribute, is now owned by a female Russian cellist.[5] The 1970 Peresson cello is currently on loan to Kyril Zlotnikov, cellist of the Jerusalem Quartet.[6]

[edit] Controversial film and book

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 the film was a critical and box-office success, and received several Academy Award nominations, it ignited a furor, especially in London, center of du Pre's activities. A group of her closest colleagues including fellow cellists Rostropovich and Julian Lloyd Webber sent a bristling letter to The Times. Clare Finzi, Hilary's daughter, charged that the film was a "gross misinterpretation, which I cannot let go unchallenged." Students from the Royal College of Music picketed the premiere. Barenboim-who has always teetered on the edge of villainy in du Pre-revering quarters-said, "Couldn't they have waited until I was dead?"[7]

Hilary, Jacqui's sister, and co-author of the book strongly defends both the book and the film, writing, in The Guardian; "At first I could not understand why people didn't believe my story because I had set out to tell the whole truth. When you tell someone the truth about your family, you don't expect them to turn around and say that it's bunkum. But I knew that Jackie would have respected what I had done. If I had gone for half-measures, she would have torn it up. She would have wanted the complete story to be told."[8] The New Yorker reports her as saying, "When you love someone, you love the whole of them. Those who are against the film want to look only at the pieces of Jackie’s life that they accept. I don’t think the film has taken any liberties at all. Jackie would have absolutely loved it."[9]

[edit] Honours and 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 recipient of the prestigious Guilhermina Suggia Award, at age eleven, and remains the youngest recipient. 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.

After du Pré’s death, a cultivar of the rose was named in her honour, which received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.[10] She was made an honorary fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford, whose music building bears her name. She also left a legacy of recordings, which were later recompiled into new collections.

[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 (arr. Grützmacher). 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)
  • The Complete EMI Recordings (17 discs). Various co-performers (EMI 5099950416721)
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] Bibliography

  • Wilson, Elizabeth A. M. (1999). Jacqueline du Pré: Her Life, Her Music, Her Legend. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571200176. 
  • Easton, Carol (2000). Jacqueline du Pré: A Biography. Cambridge: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306809761. 
  • Du Pré, Piers; du Pré, Hilary (1997). A Genius in the Family: Intimate Memoir of Jacqueline du Pré. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 1856197530. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ How Elgar came to Write the Concerto. The Elgar Society. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
  2. ^ Jose Sanchez-Penzo (06 June 2005). Jacqueline du Pré Homage Page. jose-sanchez-penzo. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
  3. ^ Elizabeth Wilson. "Jacqueline du Pré: A 60th year Anniversary celebration", BBC Music Magazine, February 2005, pp. 22-26. Retrieved on 2007-05-21. 
  4. ^ Du Pré, Piers; Du Pré, Hilary (1996). A genius in the family : an intimate memoir of Jacqueline du Pré. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0434003441. 
  5. ^ Andy McSmith. "Why do Stradivarius violins fetch so much, and are they worth it?", The Independent, 4 Apr 2007. Retrieved on 2007-06-30. 
  6. ^ Kyril Zlotnikov. Cellist.nl. Retrieved on 2007-06-30.
  7. ^ Jay Nordlinger. "Music: Twisted Sister - Review", The National Review, 22 February 1999. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. 
  8. ^ Staff writers. "The Truth About Our Wonderful Sister Jackie", The Guardian, 21 January 1999. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. 
  9. ^ Jay Fielden. "The Talk of the Town, "The Pictures"", The New Yorker, 8 February 1999. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. 
  10. ^ Rosa Jacqueline du Pré (Harwanna) AGM. The Royal Horticultural Society (July 2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-29.

[edit] External links