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A birthday tribute to Jacqueline du Pré
This two-day event, which was the brainchild of Raphael Wallfisch, featured concerts to celebrate what would have been the 60th birthday of the cellist Jacqueline du Pré - one of Britain's greatest ever musical talents.
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The first concert on the evening of 25 January 2005 was devoted to a performance by Raphael Wallfisch and John York of the entire cycle of the Beethoven Cello Sonatas and Variations, which are regarded by many as a high point in the instrument's repertoire. Their depth of expression seems to reflect the transcending power of the human spirit - in both triumph and adversity.
Raphael Wallfisch and his duo partner, the pianist John York, have for years performed together, to considerable acclaim, all over the world. A new recording of the Beethoven cello works was on sale at the QEH with contributions going to the MS Society. The concert was broadcast on Radio 3.
Reviews
Music and Vision, 28 January 2005Raphael Wallfisch and John York at the Queen Elizabeth Hall 25th January 2005
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
... A very good crowd of people game enough (or curious enough) to see whether it was possible to play every one of Beethoven's five cello and piano sonatas AND the three sets of variations, was rewarded by a performance of incandescent beauty, passion and control from probably Britain's best cello and piano duo ...
... Perhaps the highlight (among so many) was the slow movement of the last, late sonata. Here the gorgeous depth (and sunny lights) of Raphael's cello conjured up such divine pathos and colour, while the piano part was charged with harmonic flow and feeling that I felt I'd never understood the movement before. The audience response made it obvious how privileged we were to hear two marvellously seasoned performers at the peak of their powers...
For full review see Alice McVeigh - Music & Vision
The Times, 28 January 2005
A birthday tribute to Jacqueline du Pré
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Seventeen years after her death, and 31 years after the onset of multiple sclerosis stopped her from performing, the aura of Jacqueline du Pré glows on - undimmed by time or scandalmongers. That, at least, was the impression given in Birmingham on Wednesday, when thousands gathered for an eight-hour celebration of the cellist, taking in talks, films and concerts, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Appropriately, all the proceeds (with the soloists donating their services) went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society...
... In that reverential atmosphere, and with the stage dominated by huge projections of the golden-haired, schoolgirly du Pré radiant in her all-too-brief prime, you felt concern for the cellists required somehow to evoke the exhilarating passion of her playing. Especially in repertoire on which she left an indelible stamp in the collective musical memory.
But there was no need to worry about comparisons when Raphael Wallfisch (the driving force behind the whole event) took on the quintessential du Pré piece, Elgar's Cello Concerto, in the evening concert with the English Symphony Orchestra conducted by William Boughton. Though eloquent and sometimes touching, his secure and steady reading was poles apart, in emotional terms, from the five-act-tragedy that du Pré made of this autumnal work. And much the same was true of Lloyd Webber's elegant and supple Rachmaninov and Debussy sonatas with the pianist John Lenehan ....
For full review see Times Online
Birmingham Post, 29 January 2005
Poignant Night - Jacqueline du Pré Tribute
Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Amid Symphony Hall's packed programme of chamber and orchestral events on Wednesday ... it was perhaps a tiny film of the great cellist which brought the biggest lump to the throat as we remembered her gifts.
Beautifully edited to dovetail with some of her best-loved music, this enchanting souvenir was movingly introduced by its director, Christopher Nupen, before the main concert of the day which featured two of the works which figured greatly in du Pré's repertoire ...
... It was quite a couple of days for Wallfisch, masterminding this tribute to du Pré. On Tuesday evening he had broadcast live a Queen Elizabeth Hall concert which included all five cello sonatas and three variation-sets by Beethoven, and here now he was preparing to be soloist in the Elgar Concerto and to collaborate in the Beethoven Triple ...
The Elgar of course has so many resonances of Jacqueline du Pré ...
Wallfisch's reading, desolate in the relaxation of resignation, very different from Jackie's protesting "take" on the work, was followed by a smiling partnership with violinist Philippe Graffin and pianist Jeremy Menuhin in Beethoven's repetitious concerto. William Boughton and the ESO provided admirable support, and the evening's proceeds went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.