Jacqueline Du Pre: The Complete Emi Recordings

Composers: Sir Edward Elgar, Frederick Delius, Camille Saint-Saëns, Antonín Dvorák, Robert Schumann, Mathias Georg Monn, Franz Joseph Haydn, Edouard Lalo, Luigi Boccherini, Max Bruch, Frédéric Chopin, César Franck, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, François Couperin, Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Manuel de Falla, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Maria Theresia von Paradis, Maria Theresia Paradis, Felix Mendelssohn, Gabriel Fauré, Benjamin Britten
Performers: Jacqueline Du Pré, Daniel Barenboim, Gerald Moore, Ernest Lush, Pinchas Zukerman, Gervase de Peyer, William Pleeth, Desmond Bradley, Herbert Downes, Stephen Kovacevich, Roy Jesson, Osian Ellis, John Williams Conductor: Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Adrian Boult Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Considering her recording career barely lasted a dozen years, seeing that Jacqueline du Pré's complete EMI recordings fill 17 full CDs is another testament to her impressive and formidable career. Anyone enamored with du Pré's unmistakable sound would do well to have this set. Although many of the recordings contained in it are still readily available on individual discs, there are some -- such as the early recording of the Brahms F major Sonata, the Beethoven clarinet and piano trios, and the Couperin Les Gouts-Reunis -- are more difficult to come by. As this is indeed a complete collection, it also includes her 1971 recordings of the Chopin and Franck sonatas, as well as her 1973 recording of the Lalo concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra. By this time, the inevitable decline brought on by her illness was already well underway, and listeners will notice with reverence the struggle she was facing against her own body. Anyone who has not yet been exposed to this extraordinary artist will still benefit from her definitive recording of the Elgar concerto, as well as her magnificent interpretations of the Schumann and Dvorák concerto, all of which demonstrate her enviable ability to draw unearthly amounts of sound from her instrument. ~ Mike D. Brownell, All Music Guide

Price: $75.98