Jacqueline du Pré, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Barbirolli - Elgar: Cello Concerto / J.S. Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1 & 2 (2005)

This is not the classic 1965 Jacqueline du Pré / John Barbirolli / London Symphony Orchestra recording of Elgar's profoundly elegiac Cello Concerto. This is a previously unreleased live recording made by du Pré and Barbirolli in Prague two years later with the BBC Symphony. Is it as good? No, of course, not: the 1965 du Pré / Barbirolli recording has rightly been acknowledged to be the greatest recording of the work ever made -- the most intense, the most passionate, the most compelling and far and away the most heart wrenching -- and even in front of an audience of spellbound Czechs, Du Pré and Barbirolli cannot match that performance.

But they do come amazingly close. Live or in the studio, Du Pré is so deeply under the skin of the music that it's nearly impossible to tell where Elgar's score ends and Du Pré's interpretation begins. And while there are inevitably some small slips in her technique, the added power of a live performance makes her playing here nearly as compelling as her earlier recording. Plus, the addition of Du Pré's emotional performances of Bach's first two Cello Suites from a 1962 live radio broadcasts makes this disc a real treat for her fans. And although Testament's re-mastering can only do so much to clean up the sonically antiquated recording, the mere sound of Du Pré's soaring cello will be enough to make even the strongest men weep.