Jacqueline du Pré in Portrait
November 2004 Reviewed by: Wes Marshall Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Jacqueline du Pré’s career was one of the great triumphs and tragedies of English classical music. Already a star by the time she was 20, she had the capability of musically evoking both heart-wrenching pathos and beaming joy. To add to her talents, she had a fresh and healthy beauty, and in a business not known for poster girls, she was the pinup queen for a generation of young men interested in the classics.

At age 28, Jacqueline du Pré contracted multiple sclerosis and lost the ability to play her instrument. She stayed strong, offering her experience in master classes and her body for medical experiments, but the disease rapidly overtook her. Jacqueline du Pré died when she was only 42.

Her great masterpiece was her interpretation of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor, a work that she played not only flawlessly but with profound emotion. Her most famous recording of the work was with Sir John Barbirolli and the London Symphony (EMI), but the recording on this DVD has a special meaning because the conductor was her husband, Daniel Barenboim. The sound is somewhat boxy mono, but it is otherwise clear and undistorted. You can choose to watch the performance alone or as part of a documentary about du Pré’s life and her close relationship with the Elgar Concerto.

The other musical piece is a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio No.5 in D Major, with Barenboim and du Pré joined by their friend Pinchas Zuckerman. Here, the music is more realistically reproduced, albeit still in mono. You can choose to watch it as the original TV audience did, with a written introduction and exit, or you can simply view the performance.

For anyone who fell under Jacqueline du Pré’s spell, this DVD is a wonderful reminder of her youthful beauty and elegant musicianship.

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