Customer Reviews

Brahms: The Two Cello Sonatas by Jacqueline du Pre and Daniel Barenboim

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As per usuale, Jacqueline du Pre *wow'd* my ears with her gripping, soulful interpretation of both Brahms sonatas. If Brahms himself could hear this recording, I am sure he'd think his sonatas found their finest interpretation. du Pre is dazzling, unbridled and in her finest form. Paired with her 1712 Stradavarius, another musical hallmark made for a career cut short by tragedy.

This might be the most emotional piece of music that I have ever heard, a must for any fan of these instruments or this period. And listen to the passion that Jaqueline du Pre wrings out of her Cello - I don't know of any way to make this a better interpretation. And Barenboim is just as fantastic, bringing to the accompaniment's usually secondary role a masterful command of tone. Like all chamber works, this one deserves to be played LOUDLY, if only so you can pick up every nuance of their expression.

This performance of Brahms' cello sonatas is a testament to the wonderful musical partnership that existed between Jacqueline du Pré and Daniel Barenboim. It's also enjoyable chamber music by Brahms, a composer who - let's face it - can be somewhat challenging and difficult to digest, even for experienced classical music listeners. As an aside, I would point out that this CD was reissued by EMI in 2004; type "B0001O3Y8K" into the search field to find it. At the time of this writing, it's selling for $11.98.

This is a great recording. Despite its vintage the sound quality is excellent and the image of the cello is particularly sharp (the piano is a bit more distant). What beautiful playing! The cello sound is big and rich just as it should be in these sonatas.

This is a knockout. Du Pré and Barenboim dig deeply under the surface of these sonatas. I was struck by what a gritty sound Ms. du Pré goes for, especially down low on the C string, when the music calls for it. She was obviously capable of a "prettier" performance, as many passages of sheer tonal beauty reveal. But these are fearless renditions, played with abandon, with nothing to prove except to find where this music lives. Barenboim is a more than capable partner, though unlike other reviewers, I find his role to be further in the background than in many performances of this music. Not to worry, though -- du Pré more than fills any sonic void. The background story of this partnership and these recordings is the stuff of legend, but the depth of commitment to revealing this music is what's really important here. I love this CD.