Notes and Editorial Reviews
Today Elgar’s Cello Concerto is a standard work in concert halls around the world, challenging even the Schumann and Dvo?ák concertos. I believe that this is to a certain extent thanks to the present recording. From the very start one can feel the almost transcendental rapport between the young soloist, barely turned twenty, and the ageing maestro. One can dip into the recording at almost any point and feel the magic. Take the opening of the third movement which is played with such simplicity that it feels like sacrilege even to breathe. Try also 9:10 in the last movement where the LSO strings swell so unforgettably. There is an inevitability about the whole performance that is not easy to analyse or rather, as with most great works
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of art, analysis often tends to obscure instead of clarify wherein the greatness lies. Why is Mona Lisa such an undisputed masterpiece? Both the painting and this recording go directly to the heart.
-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International [reviewing EMI 62887]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Cello in B minor, Op. 104/B 191: 1st movement, Allegro by Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Conductor:
Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1895; Bohemia
Date of Recording: 11/11/1970
Venue: Medinah Temple, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 15 Minutes 24 Secs.
2.
Concerto for Cello no 2 in D major, Op. 101/H 7b no 2 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Conductor:
Sir John Barbirolli
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1783; Eszterhazá, Hungary
Date of Recording: 07/13/1967
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 1, London
Length: 29 Minutes 46 Secs.
3.
Sicilienne in E flat major by Maria Theresia Paradis
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello),
Gerald Moore (Piano)
Period: Classical
Written: Austria
Length: 2 Minutes 57 Secs.
Notes: Arranged: Dushkin
4.
Phantasiestücke (3) for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73 by Robert Schumann
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello),
Gerald Moore (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1849; Germany
Length: 10 Minutes 52 Secs.
5.
Song without words for Cello and Piano in D major, Op. 109 by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello),
Gerald Moore (Piano)
Written: 1845
Length: 5 Minutes 28 Secs.
6.
Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564: Adagio by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello),
Roy Jesson (Organ)
Written: 1708-17
Length: 4 Minutes 43 Secs.
Notes: Arranged: Siloti
7.
Carnival of the animals: no 13, The swan by Camille Saint-Saëns
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello),
Osian Ellis (Harp)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1886; France
Length: 2 Minutes 49 Secs.
8.
Canciones populares espańolas (7): no 4, Jota by Manuel de Falla
Performer:
John Williams (Guitar),
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914-1915; Spain
Date of Recording: 03/22/1961
Venue: BBC Studios, London, England
Length: 3 Minutes 30 Secs.
9.
Kol Nidrei for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 47 by Max Bruch
Performer:
Gerald Moore (Piano),
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1881; Liverpool, England
Date of Recording: 07/15/1962
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studios, London
Length: 10 Minutes 26 Secs.
10.
Trio for Piano and Strings no 7 in B flat major, Op. 97 "Archduke": 1st movement, Allegro moderato by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Daniel Barenboim (Piano),
Pinchas Zukerman (Violin),
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Period: Classical
Written: 1810-1811; Vienna, Austria
Length: 10 Minutes 13 Secs.
11.
Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, M 8: 4th movement, Allegro poco mosso by César Franck
Performer:
Daniel Barenboim (Piano),
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1886; France
Date of Recording: 12/1971
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 1, London
Length: 6 Minutes 54 Secs.
12.
Concerto for Cello in E minor, Op. 85 by Sir Edward Elgar
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Conductor:
Sir John Barbirolli
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1919; England
Date of Recording: 08/19/1965
Venue: Kingsway Hall, London, England
Length: 30 Minutes 7 Secs.
13.
Elégie for Cello and Piano, Op. 24 by Gabriel Fauré
Performer:
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello),
Gerald Moore (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1880; France
Date of Recording: 04/01/1996
Venue: EMI Abbey Road Studios, London
Length: 6 Minutes 37 Secs.
14.
Sonata for Cello and Piano no 2 in F major, Op. 99: 1st movement, Allegro vivace by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Daniel Barenboim (Piano),
Jacqueline Du Pré (Cello)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1886; Austria
Date of Recording: 09/03/1962
Venue: Freemason's Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland
Length: 8 Minutes 57 Secs.
Sound Samples
Cello Concerto in B minor B191 (Op. 104) (1995 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Hob. VIIb:2 (Op. 101) (1987 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro moderato - Cadenza
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Hob. VIIb:2 (Op. 101) (1987 Digital Remaster): II. Adagio
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Hob. VIIb:2 (Op. 101) (1987 Digital Remaster): III. Rondo (Allegro) - Cadenza
Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 (1995 Digital Remaster): I. Adagio - Moderato
Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 (1995 Digital Remaster): II. Lento - Allegro molto
Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 (1995 Digital Remaster): III. Adagio
Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 (1995 Digital Remaster): IV. Allegro - Moderato - Allegro, ma non troppo
Sicilienne (1995 Digital Remaster)
Fantasiestücke Op. 73 (1995 Digital Remaster): I. Zart und mit Ausdruck
Fantasiestücke Op. 73 (1995 Digital Remaster): II. Lebhaft, leicht - Coda (Nach und nach ruhiger)
Fantasiestücke Op. 73 (1995 Digital Remaster): III. Rasch und mit Feuer - Coda (Schneller)
Song without Words in D Op. 109 (1995 Digital Remaster)
Elégie in C minor Op. 24 (1995 Digital Remaster)
Adagio from Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C BWV564 (1995 Digital Remaster)
The Carnival of the Animals: The Swan
Suite populaire espagnole (1963 Digital Remaster): Jota (arr. Maurice Maréchal)
Kol nidrei Op. 47 (1995 Digital Remaster)
Piano Trio in B flat 'Archduke' Op. 97 (1989 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro moderato
Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Op. 99 (1989 Digital Remaster): I. Allegro vivace
Sonata in A (arr. Jules Delsart) (1989 Digital Remaster): IV. Allegretto poco mosso
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Not Enough Stars Available. September 26, 2012
By Richard F. Buckley (Jefferson Hills, PA) See All My Reviews
"I hesitate to write a review for this two disc set. My words aren't elegant enough to do it justice. Jacqueline du Pre was and is, in my opinion, the greatest cellist who ever put bow to string! I grew up enjoying Casals, Rostropovich and Tortelier, believing surely that no one could ever surpass any of them in skill. I thought Rostropovich, in particular, was one of the greatest musical artists that ever lived. He and the other two take a distant back seat to Jacqueline du Pre, and this is the set of discs that prove it convincingly! Jacqueline makes the instrument sing - tug at your heartstrings - bring tears to your eyes! Words cannot adequately describe the skill and sentiment that she poured into that cello. The instrument sang, whispered and cried under her expert touch. The notes flowed together off her cello right into your heart. There is no vibrato or hesitation in her highest or lowest notes. The three aforementioned artists, among others, each took her under their wings for brief periods of time to train her, but she far surpassed each of them. I strongly believe that we will never live to see or hear her equal. These two discs are perfect platforms upon which to sample her wares. I'm at a loss to say more about Elgar's Cello Concerto. Every reviewer who ever heard it has raved about it, and rightly so. I believe that if it weren't for her rendition it would be rarely played. But that is only one of the beautiful selections featured in this wonderful set. The first disc also offers Cello Concertos by Dvorak and Haydn, each perfectly performed. The second disc features mostly short selections naturally picked because they accent the cello, including one of my favorites, The Swan, from Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, as well as pieces by Von Paradis, Schumann, Mendelsohn, Faure, Bach, De Falla, Brahms and Franck. It also includes Kol Nidrei by Bruch and an excerpt from the Archduke Piano Trio by Beethoven. All are performed masterfully by du Pre and her accompanists. Featured among those accompanists are the likes of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Jacqueline's husband, Daniel Barenboim, Sir John Barbirolli, Gerald Moore, Roy Jesson, Osian Ellis, John Williams and Pinchas Zukerman - all masters in their own right. God allows us to experience and enjoy the very best of musicians like Jacqueline du Pre for a very brief time, and then he takes them up with him to heaven, where he has his own bevy of brilliant and heart-warming artists and orchestra. He took Jacqueline way too soon. If you never buy another disc, get this set while you can. As I said in my title, there are not enough stars available to rate this 2-CD set."
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