Dvorák- Cello Concerto- Op. 104 / Saint-SaEns- Cello Concerto No. 1- Op. 33

Product Description English cellist Jacqueline du Pre was one of the most original and dynamic concert artists of the later 20th century. Each performance by du Pre was a unique act of creation, and she played with a passionate abandon that set her apart from all her contemporaries. This rare recording features du Pre in two Romantic concerto masterworks, recorded live at the height of her powers. It gives a strong sense of the artist, evoking the extraordinary magnetism and fire she generated at the moment of creation. The Saint-Saens with Daniel Barenboim and the Philadelphia Orchestra was recorded at a time of great personal happiness for du Pre, soon after her wedding to Barenboim in the euphoric period after Israel's victory in the Six-Day War. The Dvorak concerto was recorded live in Stockholm in 1967; the Saint-Saens concerto was recorded live in Philadelphia in 1971. This remarkable release is the first time that either du Pre performance has been available on a single compact disc: both were previously only available as part of multi-disc and/or limited edition sets. Amazon.com This disc, recorded live toward the end of Jacqueline du Pré's grievously short career, displays both her irresistible magic--the sumptuous, warm tone, the spontaneous immediacy of expression, the technical and emotional risk-taking born of total faith in her talent and musical instincts--and her unbridled excesses: the liberties, the extreme tempi and tempo changes, the passionate abandon, the incessant slow, sentimental slides. These would be intolerable in a performer whose playing and personality had not been inexorably affected by personal tragedy, making it impossible to listen to her objectively. The Saint-Saëns is very fast, brilliant, and impetuous, with slashing accents and attacks, but the slow section is charmingly whimsical. Barenboim and the Philadelphians support her admirably. Du Pré's Dvorák is very expressive, with sometimes throbbing intensity, but the performance is surely the longest in human memory, though the booklet claims she did not resort to unduly slow tempi to achieve her effects. A check of the timings on other recordings(Fournier, with the same conductor, Casals, Navarra, Ma, Feuermann, and Wispelway) reveals differences of three and four minutes per movement. In truth, she milks the music; what saves her idiosyncratic approach is the utt