My best friend introduced me to Gould's Bach and Du Pre's Elgar when we were in college. I confess: I could have lived my life without Gould, but my life would definitely suffer a great loss had I not heard Du Pre. (I know I am offending Gould fans.)
After hearing Du Pre's Elgar, non of the other Elgar felt right, no matter how great the cellist playing it was. There was always something missing. (Is it passion? A sense of pending doom and incoming tragedy?) After all, Du Pre's life was like the Elgar cello concerto, tragic, dramatic. She didn't just play Elgar's cello concerto, she lived it.
I was quite surprised when I came across those Youtube videos of Du Pre's playings. (How did I stumbled upon them? What was I searching for?) I watched a few of them. It still broke my heart when I heard her Elgar.
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