Jacqueline Du Pr

British musician, a world-class cellist who became a classical music superstar in the 1960s when still in her teens. She was a golden girl whose blonde tresses flew with the exuberance of her performance and whose music moved her listeners to tears from the sheer beauty of her instrument. Called the greatest soloist produced by Britain in the 20th century, Du Pre was perhaps best known for her brilliant interpretation of the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor. She made a chamber music team with violinist Pinchas Zukerman and conductor-pianist Daniel Barenboim and, in 1967, she and Barenboim married. They were a magic couple, both charismatic and joyful, giving the music world glamour and passion. She and her sister were both musicians, Hilary a flutist who left the stage for marriage and life on a farm. The complex and often troubled relationship between the two sisters is explored in the film "Hilary and Jackie," 1999. A scandal that emerged from the book and film is the 16-month affair that Jackie had with Hilary's husband, condoned by Hilary, during a period when Jackie and her husband were separated. Fans were outraged by having the reputation of their virtuoso sullied, and Barenboim was quoted as saying, "Couldn't they have waited until I'm dead?" Jackie was a fun-loving young woman with a gift for mimicry. Growing up in London, she could sing in tune by the time she was 18 months old. Though she practiced little, she memorized scores easily and always was a step ahead of her older sister. As a teenager, she studied briefly with Pablo Casals and dazzled concertgoers. When she was 16, a patron gave her the first of her two Stradivarius cellos. By the time she met Barenboim, she was moving in a high stratosphere musical world, one that included such stars as Arthur Rubinstein and Itzhak Perlman. Jackie's career was tragically cut short at 28 when she came down with the degenerative nerve disease, multiple sclerosis. In1973 she began to have spells of dizziness that was finally diagnosed as MS. As the condition ravaged her body and robbed her of the ability to play, she taught master classes as long as she was able. However the disease also brought on profound personality imbalances that created tremendous friction in her family. Barenboim cared for Jackie during her illness, but he also set up a household with another woman and fathered two children during the difficult years. Du Pre was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1976. She died on 10/19/1987, London. Link to Wikipedia biography