Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy
I watched a documentary about Jacqueline du Pré produced by Allegro Films.
Jacqueline du Pré was one of the most acclaimed cellists of the twentieth century. I am in the midst of reading Elizabeth Wilson’s excellent biography Jacqueline du Pré: Her Life, Her Music, Her Legend, which I learned about a few weeks ago while reading reddit.com’s r/cello subreddit.
On page 247 of this book, I read about Christopher Nupen’s documentary that he had filmed in August and September of 1967. I searched for this documentary and found an 86-minute documentary by Allegro Films from 2025 called Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy. This later production, narrated by Yo-yo Ma, used quite a bit of the footage from Nupen’s earlier film. The 2025 documentary can be viewed on PBS.
After reading about Jackie du Pré for more than two weeks, I was fascinated to see her as she was when she was playing. Genius refers to Jackie’s unique skills and personality as a cellist. Tragedy refers to her having to retire at 28 because multiple sclerosis took away her ability to play. Jackie died in 1987 at the early age of 42.
An excellent review of this documentary by James Jacobs is available on the WETA website.