Jacqueline du Pré

Jacqueline Mary du Pré (January 26, 1945 – October 19, 1987) was an English cellist.

Marriage

Jacqueline met pianist Daniel Barenboim at Christmas in 1966. Their marriage one year later brought about one of the most fruitful relationships in the world of music: some consider it comparable only to that of Clara and Robert Schumann. This was evidenced by the many performances of du Pré with Barenboim as either a pianist or orchestral conductor. She converted to Judaism for the marriage.

Related Topics:
1966 - Clara - Robert Schumann - Orchestral conductor - Judaism

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Jacqueline's sister, Hilary, was married to the conductor, Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi, with whom Jacqueline had an affair. According to Hilary and her brother Piers in their book A Talent in the Family (released in America as Hilary and Jackie), the affair was conducted with Hilary's consent as a way of helping Jacqueline through a near nervous breakdown, during which she exhibited suicidal behavior and begged Hilary to sleep with Kiffer as a way of living a simple life away from celebrity. In 1999, Kiffer and Hilary's children blasted their mother's account, recalling that their father was a serial adulterer who seduced their emotionally vulnerable aunt in a time of great need in order to gratify his own ego.

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