Monday, Nov. 19, 1973

Time Out

Onstage, with her long arms and legs embracing the cello, her straw-colored hair falling over her shoulders, and her pink-cheeked English face radiating health and happiness, she looked a bit like Alice in Wonderland grown to womanhood. That was one reason why Jacqueline du Pre emerged as the darling of worldwide concert audiences while still in her early 20s. Another was the graceful and eloquently soulful way she played her cumbersome instrument. Her tone had an auburn glow, her phrasing a masculine power, and her programming showed an equal devotion to old favorites (the Schumann and Saint-Saens concertos) and interesting esoterica (the Delius concerto). She quickly took a place among the two or three finest cellists in the world.

After she married Conductor-Pianist Daniel Barenboim in 1967, Jackie's active career became almost frenetic. When she and Daniel were not performing together, they were jetting off separately to tour on different continents, then rushing back home to London to be with each other. It did not seem all that unusual when Du Pre, in the summer of 1971, came down with what was described as nervous exhaustion and canceled all her concerts for the following season.

Save for an occasional recording session and concert, however, the Du Pre career never fully resumed. Last week the explanation came out. After extensive hospital tests late last month, doctors have determined that, at 28, Du Pre is a victim of multiple sclerosis.

Will she play again? Even her doctors cannot answer for sure. What is known about multiple sclerosis is that it is a disease of the central nervous system that impairs sensation, motor functions and balance. What is not known is its cause or cure. Its crippling, paralyzing and all too often fatal course--marked by alternating exacerbations and remissions--can be run in as few as three years or as many as 50. Hormones, especially of the cortisone type, can relieve acute symptoms during the early phases. By all odds, however, Du Pre's career and very possibly her life will be cruelly curtailed.

Du Pre has not performed in public since last February. Her last recording (cello and piano sonatas by Chopin and Franck, with Barenboim) was made two years ago. In order to spend more time with her, Barenboim recently canceled a one-month tour of the U.S., and plans to cut his foreign travel sharply in the future.

The pair continue to take long walks, give parties and revel in private musical soirees with close friends. Back home from the hospital last week, Jackie was busy cooking and puttering. Despite her gloomy prospects, she has been practicing regularly with the determined air of a woman who has merely taken some time out. Her friends and associates insist that this is literally the case. Says Record Producer and Family Friend Suvi Raj Grubb: "I know the girl. She'll play."

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