| Summary: | Jacqueline du Pré caught the public imagination when she was still in her teens, partly because she had a very unusual and elevated relationship with the Elgar cello concerto. For critics and public alike, her performances focused new attention on the inherent pathos in Elgar's melancholy masterpiece and had an emotional quality that has never been matched by anyone else. ... She played the work for the last time in 1973, when her brilliant career as one of the finest musicians that Britain has ever produced, was cut short by multiple sclerosis. After 1973, she could no longer play the cello, but she remained a brave and adventurous spirit, her passion for music undimmed and her attitude in coming to terms with her illness as touching as it was courageous. There are contributions by Daniel Barenboim, Sir John Barbirolli, Charles Beare (who looked after her cellos throughout her career), William Pleeth, Iris and Derek du Pré (Jacqueline du Pré's parents) and with music by Camille Saint-Saëns, Iris du Pré, François Couperin, Enrique Granados, Max Bruch, Johannes Brahms and Edward Elgar.
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