Jacqueline Du Pré has been for me a ‘Song Without Words’ because no one word could express what she was.
It is impossible, in fact, to find a category to define this real force of nature, comparable to those characters that we find in the great ancient Greek tragedies such as Medea.
Jacqueline Du Pré started to play cello at the age of four, revealing immediately a blazing genius which led her towards an outstanding career and global recognition.
Tragically, everything gradually came to an end. In October 1973 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. From that moment on her appearances on stage became sporadic and not always as captivating due to the lack of sensitivity in her hands.
Jacqueline Du Pré died on October 19th, 1982 at the age of 42.
What distinguished Jacqueline Du Pré among the performers of classical music was her ease in approaching every piece of music despite the technical difficulties.
Thanks to extended shades of colour, and the impressive amplitude of the sound projected from her cello, she could bring the listener into a timeless world where just the emotions count.
Even if we never have the chance to listen to her in a live concert, we can be witnesses of this phenomenon by listening and sharing the copious legacy she left to art and to all of us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngcxp4yn_Fg
Photo Credit
Thumbnail – Allegro Films
jacqueline du Pré with her husband – Wikimedia Fair Use
Rosita Tristano – Guest Author Bio
She signs her paintings as Maria Tristan; plays the violin as Rosita Tristano, but for the civil register of Pomarico (Matera, Basilicata, Italy, Europe, World, Universe etc…) she is: MARIA ROSITA TRISTANO.
It was at the age of four, during a live concert, embraced by her father, that the virus of the Art infected her once and forever! Since then the violin became a compass which guides her life, through failures and success, on the road of her feelings.
The main source for her inspiration lays in the ancient lessons of the immortal masters of Classical Music, in the words of songwriters and in the energy of rockers.
When it comes to paintings, color is her North Star.
For her color is a skilled architect who draws emotional scenarios, visible only in our dream land.
Today she wants to share her passion for Art on this virtual space where she invites everyone who lends the Web a more human face.
Blog / Website: RositaTristano.com
It would be a pleasure for me to create a playlist of videos to introduce some great personalities of classical music to a bigger audience.
Together with videos I can provide an explanation to help people to understand in detail the genius of those personalities.
I receive these information on a daily basis from my mentor in art: Mikhail Bezverkhni, now I would like to share it with every person who takes this music as nourishment for both soul and life.
Thank you for appreciating !
Rosita
Thanks for the wonderful article – I have watched the videos several times – you and Jacqueline Du Pré are very inspirational. I have been incorporating music into my painting lately in a more dramatic way than in the past.
Thanks for your article Rosita –
Heather
Thanks to you Heather for being so sensitive!
You are so welcome – I think art is art when it ‘disturbs’ my emotions – and I mean that in a positive way. And you and Jacqueline have done that. I do a lot of photography and Jacqueline’s music inspires me to concentrate more on painting – an urge that I have been putting off for the future – and your article is a reminder of just how futile that is.