Brahms: The Two Cello Sonatas by Jacqueline du Pre and Daniel Barenboim

Jacqueline du Pré and Daniel Barenboim were married in 1967. One of the first things they did as a couple was make this recording of the Brahms sonatas (when it was finished, in 1968, Du Pré was only 23, Barenboim an old man of 25). Their collaboration is an intense one, both in the dark, melancholy E minor work and in the passionate F major sonata, which receives a fulminant performance here, even if its scherzo sounds rather elephantine. Du Pré is quite rough much of the time, but her tone is huge and she wrings incredible expression out of every gesture; Barenboim is musically and sonically in the background, which under the circumstances is fine. Excellently remastered, though at a high level, the analog recording has striking immediacy and depth. --Ted Libbey