Customer Reviews

Jacqueline du Pré · Daniel Barenboim ~ Elgar (Pomp and Circumstance · Cello Concerto · Enigma Variations)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In my opinion this particular recording is the very finest of all recordings of this work - although DuPre has also recorded this beautifully with Barberolli conducting. This recording with Barenboim is far and away the the most moving and passionate of all. I cannot imagine it bettered. This is the one maybe for all time.

This recording of the Elgar is the 2nd version made by du Pre, from 1970. It is one of the most intense readings one will ever hear. Whereas in her first recording, she fully captures the longing mood of the piece by weeping through her cello, in this recording she pierces the listener's heart by bluntly crying out what Elgar wanted to say so desperately:"It is over". I have myself sometimes been reduced to tears, as the emotional weight of this recording is too much to bear at times. It is a very highly strung recording, with maximum support from the Philadelphia Orchestra, who play with great inspiration (no doubt du Pre had a huge effect on the orchestra!). She used her then-new Peresson cello, which seems to match her iiiiiintense playing fully. One can hear some imperfections in some passages, loss of tone etc (could these have been an early signs of MS approaching?), but they are hardly noticeable. The recording quality is not the best, but it does not detract the musical quality in any way. If you do not have this recording yet, then I suggest you buy one as a matter of urgent priority. Buy it!

This is a stunning recording. The depth of emotion with which Ms. Du Pre interprets this concerto is astonishing. I cannot think of a comparable live recording. She transcends the technical challenges of the piece in a way that allows her to push its emotional boundaries. You must hear this recording.

The power that is released from this live recording of du Pre's favorite concerto is uncontested in the music world today. Having listened to 10-15 other recordings of Du Pre and others playing this Concerto I will say that this is the best. It is very seldom that you will find such perfection in a live recording. The sound quality is fairly good, and except for a few coughs the Concerto goes uninterrupted. If you do not own any Concerti by Du Pre (or by anyone) I would pick this. It gives a true taste for the spirit found in some Romantic-Modern music.

I love this recording so much.I love and respect Jackie so much.When you want to listen to her music,LISTEN THIS!!!!!!! THIS IS THE BEST!!!!!!! ****************************************** In this,you can feel her life.Great,wonderful,and sad...!NOW LISTEN THIS!!!!!!!Then you can meet the great cellist,Jacqueline Du Pre!!!!!!!

Although Jacqueline Du Pre's live performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim is a mesmerizing, exhilirating performance, it is nonetheless one of the worst live recordings I have heard, especially given the excellent quality of 1970's sound recording. Indeed, the mixing of the orchestra and the soloist is so inadequate, that it is as though you are hearing mainly Du Pre, not her in tandem with the orchestra. I strongly wonder why Sony decided to reissue this, unless it was to gain some advantage from recent interest in her career, most notably the film "Hilary and Jackie". On the other hand, Barenboim's inspired account of the Enigma Variations, performed by the London Philharmonic, is nearly as memorable as Gardiner's recent Deutsche Grammophon recording with the Vienna Philharmonic. This CD will probably be primarily of historical interest, appealing mostly to those interested in Jacqueline Du Pre and her marriage to Daniel Barenboim.

It's no doubt that Jacqueline duPre is the best intepreter of the Elgar Cello Concerto. The way she used her cello to deliver the wistful story of the composer to the audience was extraordinary, and always had lifted the audience's mind into a stillness wonder.... Although her most famous recording of this piece is the one with Sir Barbarolli, I do have an exceptional adoration for this live recording with Barenboim. After reading Jacqueline's story written by her brother and sister, Hilary and Piers duPre, and knowing more about her touring life during those years, I could feel the story that Ms duPre was trying to tell through her instrument, and it makes this recording more stunning and attractive. The profound emotion and the her understanding of the music is so penetrating that you will find yourself so much addicted to it and eventually, your tears will drop after an extremely concentrated listening. This is why this recording is incredibly valuable.

While I admit that the playing of Du Pre on this recording is superb, the quality of the recording isn't very good. Having been recorded in the 70's one would expect a much more true sound that what is delivered. In their mastering, I am not sure what Sony did, but there is very little presence and spaciousness. One almost feels like the orchestra and soloist were recorded in a little room, yet this was recorded live with an audience (you can hear people coughing). On top of that certain instruments in the orchestra sound like they were recorded in the 50's. If you've heard recordings such as Kubelik's Dvorak Symphonies from the 50's and are familiar with how the tympani sound on that, you'll hear that same wierd tympani sound in a recording almost 20 years later. I've never heard a work that sounded like this from the 70's and therefore the work as a whole is disappointing.

However, that doesn't mean that the whole CD is bad. Actually the Pomp & Circumstance Marches are great and the Enigma Variations is a fine recording.

The quality of this recording is not the best. In the solo sections of the Elgar Concerto, du Pre's sound comes across beautifully. However, in the grand orchestral tuttis, the recording becomes scratchy and weak, taking away of a lot of the oomph that Elgar wrote into this piece. Furthermore, as the concerto was recorded live, we also get the standard audience coughs and so on. Unfortunately, the other pieces on the CD sound almost listening to the wafting sound of an orchestra a couple of blocks away. While the orchestra clearly played the pieces very articulately, they still come across indistinct and distorted.

Given all that, du Pre does an excellent rendition of the concerto, and if you want to hear her, you're forced to live with the lackluster recording quality. However, I did not find the interpretations of these other works (performed without du Pre) to be especially brilliant, and I wouldn't recommend the disc for their sakes. If you don't mind the almost record era sound quality, you'll love this disc. However, there are other recordings available of du Pre performing the Elgar concerto packaged with other concertos, and if your primary interest in this disc is du Pre, I would suggest purchasing one of them instead of this recording.

I've heard far better recordings of Jackie and the Elgar concerto. This recording was okay, but it's kind of a forshadow of Jackie's MS. It was good, but not that great. Jackie has a wide vibrato, way too many glissandos, and a wavering tone here and there. It's very difficult to follow Jackie because she's slowing the tempo quite frequently. The Enigma variations were awesome, of course. The essence of Daniel Barenboim is all over here. I listen to that sometimes when I go to bed. But if you want a great recording of the Elgar concerto, pick up "Lasting Impressions" or "Hilary and Jackie" soundtrack. Jackie's Elgar concerto does sound far better on those albums.