Jaquelin du Pre

This is not the classic 1965 Jacqueline du Pré / John Barbirolli / London Symphony Orchestra recording of Elgar's profoundly elegiac Cello Concerto. This is a previously unreleased live recording made by du Pré and Barbirolli in Prague two years later with the BBC Symphony. Is it as good? No, of course, not: the 1965 du Pré / Barbirolli recording has rightly been acknowledged to be the greatest recording of the work ever made – the most intense, the most passionate, the most compelling and far and away the most heart wrenching – and even in front of an audience of spellbound Czechs, Du Pré and Barbirolli cannot match that performance.

In the 25th anniversary year of her death, EMI Classics pays tribute to British cellist Jacquline du Pre with the release of this luxury box set. Du Pre brought such searing intensity and radiant joy to her cello playing that, despite a career that was tragically curtailed by multiple sclerosis, continues to impact musicians today.
The Sound of Jacqueline du Pre is a collection of her finest recordings.

The Elgar Cello Concerto and cellist Jacqueline du Pré are inextricably linked and this 1965 EMI recording of du Pré with John Barbirolli and the London Symphony Orchestra is the first great recoding of the work the ill-fated artist was to make. Barbirolli's invitation for the 21-year-old du Pré to perform the concerto thrust her into the international spotlight and remains one of her most cherished recordings.