World-class cellist du Pre dies aged 42

Press, 21 October 1987, Page 10

World-class cellist du Pre dies aged 42

NZPA-PA London The cellist, Jacqueline du Pre, died yesterday at her London home after a long illness. She was 42. Miss du Pre, once considered Britain’s greatest string player, suffered from multiple sclerosis for the last 14 years. An infant prodigy who more than fulfilled her early promise, she was struck down at the peak of her career. When she contracted the crippling illness, Miss du Pre — who six years earlier made a famous musical marriage with the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim — told friends she would soon be back on the concert platform.

She laughed and joked as she left the London clinic, where four weeks of tests confirmed the disease. But she never played in public again.

Instead, she turned her talents to teaching, and to encouraging other sufferers of the disease, which affects the nervous system and interferes with muscle co-ordination. Miss du Pre first expressed an interest in the cello at the tender age of five.

She heard the instrument on a “Children’s Hour” radio broadcast and told her parents: “I want the thing that makes that noise.”

She got one, and took lessons at the London Cello School. At 10, she was awarded the first Suggia Gift, a benefaction from the Suggia estate in Britain administered by the Arts Council, and studied with William Pieeth both privately and at the Guildhall School of Music for seven years. She also studied in Paris with Paul Tortelier for six months. :