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*, * /  /  conducted by  &  conducted by  ‎– Cello Concertos Label:  ‎– ASD 2764,  ‎– ASD 2764 Format: , LP, Stereo 
Country: Released: Genre: Style: Tracklist  Cello Concerto In E Minor, Op. 85A1a1st Movement: Adagio - ModeratoA1b2nd Movement: Lento - Allegro MoltoA2a3rd Movement: AdagioA2b4th Movement: Allegro, Ma Non Troppo Concerto For Cello And OrchestraBLento - Con Moto Tranquillo - Lento - Con Moto Tranquillo - Allegramente Credits Cello –  Composed By –  (tracks: B),  (tracks: A1, A2) Conductor –  (tracks: A1, A2),  (tracks: B) Liner Notes – ,  Orchestra –  (tracks: A1, A2),  (tracks: B)
Artist Biography by Blair Johnston

Her story is one of the most legendary of all twentieth century musicians' stories, and also, one of the most tragic. Cellist , born on January 26, 1945, in Oxford, England, to Derek and Iris Du Pré. (Despite the family name,  was not French, but rather of British Channel Island ancestry; he could trace his lineage back to the Norman Conquest). She blossomed young and achieved international fame in a few short years during the mid-1960s, during which same time she joined  in one of history's most celebrated musical marriages. But her career was shattered in the early 1970s -- not even a decade into its maturity -- by multiple sclerosis.

It was through her mother Iris, a pianist and teacher, that young Jacqueline was first introduced to music. She was given a cello at age four, began lessons with Alison Dalrymple at the London Violoncello School some months later, and by age ten was studying with , eventually enrolling as his student at London's Guildhall School of Music. While at Guildhall she was the recipient of virtually all the school's internal awards and recognitions, meanwhile taking lessons with  in Switzerland and  in Paris. Graduating from Guildhall in 1960, she began to make her first true professional appearances, appearing with the BBC Orchestra in 1961 and performing the concerto at Wigmore Hall in London that same year, playing on a 1672 Antonio Stradivarius cello presented to her by an anonymous patron. Further concert appearances and, in particular, a series of recordings quickly established her as the premiere young cellist of her generation, and, in many minds, the premiere British-born performer to have appeared in many generations.

In 1964, she was given the  Stradivarius (now in the possession of ), and it was with this instrument that she made her Carnegie Hall debut on May 14, 1965. She engaged in further studies with around that same time, even taking the final examination at the Moscow Conservatory in 1966 -- the same year she met , whom she married the following June. 's personal and professional relationship with  opened up whole new opportunities for chamber music experience, and her collaborations with such up-and-coming luminaries as  and  sold thousands of both recordings and tickets (and, eventually, videos).

In 1971,  began to feel that all was not well with her body and, thus, her playing, and she took the entirety of the following year off. In 1973 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and, except for a pair of performances that year and some sonata recordings ( and Franck), her career as a performer was over. She remained active as a teacher, however, for many years afterwards. In 1976, she was awarded the O.B.E., and in 1982 she was named Musician of the Year by the Incorporated Society of Musicians. She passed away on October 19, 1987, at the age of 42.

's physical gift for her instrument was prodigious; but it was her sheer joy in music making that endeared her to the world's audiences. Although some found her physical involvement during performance distasteful, few could find reason to complain about the sonic result. The scintillating, rapturous tone she produced was positively intoxicating, and remains so today through recordings. Her renditions of the  and  concertos, and of the  concerto, are especially beloved.