Jacqueline Du Pre: A Life

"Jacqueline du Pré, who died in 1987, was not only one of the world's great cellists, she was a legend in her lifetime—a golden girl with prodigious talen, long blond hair, a radiant smile and a charged emotion in her playing that enthralled audiences. She won the most prestigious cello award in Britain at the age of eleven, made her "adult" debut at seventeen, was a fully established artist at twenty, and at twent-one married a brilliant young conductor and pianist in what seemed to be a fairy-tale romance. Six years later, her career was over. She had multiple sclerosis, and she died slowly over the next fifteen years. Even then, the legend persisted and she was portrayed as a kind of saint. But despite her tremendous courage, Jacqueline du Pré was neither a golden girl nor a saint. She was a remarkable but often tormented human being."—Publisher's description.