Jacqueline du Pre In Portrait

Starring:Elgar, Beethoven, Du Pre, Zukerman, Barenboim
Studio: BBC / Opus Arte
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
The subject of the 1998 film "Hilary and Jackie" and gracing the cover of the August 2004 issue of Gramophone Magazine, the cellist Jacqueline du PrÃ© remains as vibrant a figure in the public mind as she had been at the pinnacle of her career - before it was cruelly short by illness in 1973 when she was only 28 years old. The tragedy of her death is still felt by people all over the world, because this great cellist had ways of touching the heart that are given to very, very few.

Jacqueline du PrÃ© and the Elgar Cello Concerto, a documentary by award-winning film maker Christopher Nupen, explores the artistic personality of one of the finest performing musicians of the twentieth century, with the recurring theme of her special relationship with the Elgar's melancholy Cello Concerto. The film begins with an account of what she did after the onset of her illness when she could no longer perform in public. It ends, at her own request, with a re-edited version of the original portrait film which sketches her childhood and the development of her musical talent, her meeting with Daniel Barenboim and their marriage in 1967, her special relationship with the Elgar concerto and, finally, a complete performance of the work with The New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim; a performance which has become legendary.

This DVD portrait also includes Nupen's film The Ghost, which features a performance of Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 5. This is the first in a series of Christopher Nupen films on DVD.

Future titles will include Schubert's The Trout with Jacqueline du PrÃ© and AndrÃ©s Segovia in Portrait.

Description

The subject of the 1998 film "Hilary and Jackie" and gracing the cover of the August 2004 issue of Gramophone Magazine, the cellist Jacqueline du Pré remains as vibrant a figure in the public mind as she had been at the pinnacle of her career - before it was cruelly short by illness in 1973 when she was only 28 years old. The tragedy of her death is still felt by people all over the world, because this great cellist had ways of touching the heart that are given to very, very few.

Jacqueline du Pré and the Elgar Cello Concerto, a documentary by award-winning film maker Christopher Nupen, explores the artistic personality of one of the finest performing musicians of the twentieth century, with the recurring theme of her special relationship with the Elgar's melancholy Cello Concerto. The film begins with an account of what she did after the onset of her illness when she could no longer perform in public. It ends, at her own request, with a re-edited version of the original portrait film which sketches her childhood and the development of her musical talent, her meeting with Daniel Barenboim and their marriage in 1967, her special relationship with the Elgar concerto and, finally, a complete performance of the work with The New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim; a performance which has become legendary.

This DVD portrait also includes Nupen's film The Ghost, which features a performance of Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 5. This is the first in a series of Christopher Nupen films on DVD.

Future titles will include Schubert's The Trout with Jacqueline du Pré and Andrés Segovia in Portrait.

Picture Format: 4:3/16:9 • Subtitles: GB, D, F • Sound Format: LPCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Customer Reviews:

Jacqueline du Pre.......2007-05-14

Jacqueline du Pre fans should not be without this dvd. Christopher Nupen has put together a lasting tribute to a wonderful cellist. The biographical material is a retrospective of Jacquie's development as a musician "of rare and vanishing beauty". How poignantly evocative a statement!!! The dvd's culminating chapter is a complete rendition of the "Elgar Cello Concerto in E-minor". Daniel Barenboim conducts and Jacquie wrings our hearts with the passion of her playing. And if you enjoy this dvd, then you will love another Nupen dvd that puts Jacquie, Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman, and Zubin Mehta together playing Schubert's "Trout"( The Greatest Love and The Greatest Sorrow). Jacquie is 24-all of them are in their twenties-and they all have so much fun while dazzling the audience with their talented playing. I never tire of watching and listening to both these dvds and I intend to buy them as Christmas presents for some of my friends.

A sheer delight!.......2007-03-08

This DVD is a treasure for any enthusiast of the cello or admirer of the great Jacqueline du Pre. Christopher Nupen has captured on film the power and passion of Jackie as she performs the Elgar as no one has before or since. Somehow seeing her and hearing her add to the almost overwhelming experience that Elgar packed into his work. The more personal portraits of Jackie allow one to see her as a person: a brilliant, sometimes troubled artist dealing with a devastating disease. This DVD is worth having to experience it again and again.

Jacqueline du Pre in portrait.......2007-01-28

Everyrhing OK
u service is good, and the product also good
Thanks, NGB

Jacqueline du Pre In Portrait.......2006-03-11

This is a must have for fans of Jaqueline du Pre.
It provides an interesting and revealing insight into the artist.
It also provides examples of her playing which are a stunning example of her artistry

An extraordinary artist!.......2005-11-23

Here we have one of the most interesting DVD available in classical music. A documentary about Jaqueline du Pre's life and art, joining together some of the most important people in her life, like her parents, her first personal teacher, William Pleeth (her mother was really the first one who introduced Jacqueline into the world of music, as she tells in the images), her husband, Daniel Barenboim and a couple of musicians that take part in the Jacqueline's career, that brief voyage through the cello notes in a kind of magical ships, like her art was, a magician that took with her all those who listen her performances of orchestral and chamber music.

The DVD is part of a large collection of recorded music and documentaries shot by the very music knower Christopher Nupen, who had worked too with artists son great like Ashkenazy, Barenboim, Kissin... Apart from two Spanish musicians; Segovia and Halffter whom I hope will be soon on DVD like Jacqueline du Pre is now. All the documentaries, and this one too, seems to be done with a large understanding of the music by Mr. Nupen, together with a deep knowledge of what an artist is; something very important to analyse them as humans beings, and not like the `divas' others shows in many cases. The DVD is very generous in showing us lot of trailers of this Nupen's recordings, which I hope will be released in the next months or years.

The main documentary is shot in black and white and begins in the very childhood of Jacqueline du Pre, from the time she was a child. We can watch her pictures, her drawings, the first scores her mother composed to her with easy and lovely tunes... Du Pre talks about how much important this period was for her loving the music and specially the cello. We continue passing through her early years as student, listening Pleeth to explain how did he work with her, a girl defined by the English cellist as a gift of the nature, a talent that gave always a bit more in every step they gave together making music. The next years, when she knew Casals, Tortelier or Rostropovich are not very largely explained, but we have notice about them, like about her debut on the stage and on TV, as we can watch in this DVD together with her mother.

As this DVD wants to celebrate her career and her talent, Nupen don't abuse of talking about her illness very much, a multiple sclerosis that attacked her at 28. Anyway, some shots are shown from his last years, images not usually seen of the myth and that shows her still in love with the music, teaching the new cellists how to play, feel and understand the Cello Concerto, that one which is the main in her career. Watching her eyes, the way she regards the scores, the young man is breathtaking, as you can feel how much love is still in her own and how much desire and longing of playing she has. On the other hand, Du Pre is presented like the very fighter woman she was, working for improve the knowledge and treatments of her illness; probably the last and great concert and performing of her life. It's sad to watch this part, but as art is part of life it embraces everything and her courage is great enough to be known even in this way.

The two performances we can watch and listen in this DVD are the Cello Concerto by Elgar and the Piano Trio "The Ghost", by Beethoven, two wonderful pieces of some of her most loved composers (we have to remember her long relation with the Elgar Concerto, I know at least 4 different recordings -Celibidache, Barenboim DVD & CD & Barbirolli- ; like her very well known playing of Beethoven Chamber Music with her husband Daniel Barnboim for EMI).

The Elgar Concerto is her speciality, a mature piece she understood since she was quite a teenager, and which she gave new life and sense in its melancholic and magical style, full, of lyrics and desire of enjoining a life that is going. The performance is a bit more mature of the other CD recordings that I know, specially in du Pre's hands; she shows herself more introspective and technical, but, of course, never forgetting her very passion and romantic style which admires everybody. Barenboim conducting is very clear and precise, and the understanding between them is a real chapter in the history of music. Superb and outstanding version.

The Ghost Trio is a piece described as one of the most impressive documents of music ever recorded and filmed. Based on the communication of the players, most of them by the looks and the eyes, and because of them instinctive playing, the film shows the most incredible performance of the work I know, even better than the recording they made for EMI. Romantic and perfect Beethoven.

The recordings are good for being from that time, specially Beethoven's Trio, that has quite good sound.

In sum, a DVD for not to be missed, a jewel for all the lovers of classical music and specially for those who love the cello and this outstanding and sadness brief artist that was Jacqueline du Pre, a miracle of communication and an inspiring example even decades after she died, at least in her human form.

DVD:

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Big Green (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Chandu on the Magic Island:Feature

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