Jacqueline Du Pré Celebration

Allegro DVD A 07CN D

There will likely be no end to the recycling of Christopher Nupen's material from his copious filmings in the golden age of Barenboim, Du Pré and their group of young geniuses.

This one is a three and a quarter hour compilation which tends to be rather repetitive, especially in the personal tributes to Jacqueline paid by her friends and colleagues.

There are some good clips and musical excerpts, e.g. of Jaqueline playing a Clementi piano sonata with competence and flair, but many of them are just fill-ins. Nupen does not show himself to be a good interviewer and some will deplore the release of a stilted interview with Jacqueline in her wheel-chair during later life.

It will find its market, but is not a DVD to which we are likely to return. Better to invest in the earlier one with a black & white film of a complete performance of the Elgar concerto by Jacqueline Du Pré at her peak. http://www.musicalpointers.co.uk/reviews/cddvd/Du%20Pre.htm

Peter Grahame Woolf