Rosemary Ceravolo writes:
>I must agree with Doug here. I'm reading "Hilary and Jackie," formerly
>known as "A Genius In The Family," written by Hilary and Piers, sister
>and brother of Jacqueline du Pre, which is the source for the current film
>about Jacqueline and what her siblings could make of her life and marvelous
>gifts as a cellist.
I have also been reading this book, and finding it a depressing experience.
It is poorly written and full of ideas that seem stupefying in their
banality.
>There's no doubt that Iris du Pre, their mother, was a determined and
>ambitious teacher of her prodigy-child, Jackie, and went to great lengths
>to accomodate what she assumed were necessary adjustments of both reality
>and play, in the rearing of Jackie's talent, rather than her true
>personality.
That is exactly right. Iris du Pre had hoped to be a professional
musician, but gave it up to be a wife and mother. (She may not have been
very talented, but we can't know one way or the other). But she turned out
to be the worst kind of prodigy's mother - tremendously ambitious but also
over-indulgent. As a result neither Jackie nor her sister seem to have had
any education at all: Jackie was unhappy at school and very soon persuaded
her mother to let her give it up, and shortly after Hilary followed suit.
As a result music consumed their lives, but they grew up without any sense
of culture. There is not a single interesting conversation in the book,
even about music. In addition Jackie was, not unnaturally, the star of the
family and nobody was allowed to deny her anything. So she grew up both
greedy and needy.
>I'm sure Jacqueline's husband, Daniel Barenboim, who was also a
>prodigy but on the piano, was reared by his parents with the same kind
>of over-attentiveness to his gifts, instead of being allowed to develop as
>a full and mature human being as well. His character when he was married
>to Jackie, at least, resembled Woody Allen's.
I don't see the resemblance to Allen myself; at any rate, Barenboim
came from a far more cosmopolitan background, and was certainly more
sophisticated. It is hard to overestimate the narrowness of du Pre's home:
the whole tone of her sister's book makes it perfectly plain.
>Their marriage was an emotional disaster. Jackie may have been driven mad
>by Danny, in fact. She probably retreated into MS in desperation at being
>unable to voice her own intentions, aspirations, and predilections for
>their life together.
This is too much of a stretch, surely. I don't think MS can be summoned up
at will!
>Apparently, he had no interest in or comprehension of her other than
>her abilities as a cellist. They performed non-stop all over the world
>together.
You must remember they were very young when they married.
>Granted, du Pre and Barenboim made beautiful music together. But I can't
>help pondering at what cost to Jacqueline's mental and physical health.
>I'm now aware of the reasons behind Jacqueline du Pre's brilliant
>performances. The cello became her voice, the only one that allowed her to
>express every passion and longing she couldn't convey in her life. Those
>closest to her only heard her cello and let the real woman suffer and die.
You make Jackie sound like a victim, which in a sense she was: MS is a
hideous fate. But she was also a tremendous oppressor, very manipulative,
and hard on everyone who was close to her. She really was an object lesson
in how NOT to raise a prodigy. Perhaps the lesson to be drawn is that
gifted kids (even geniuses) would do better in a setting like the Menuhin
school, for example, where they insist upon a rounded education in addition
to musical studies - and incidentally keep kids away from adoring and
ambitious mothers!
Julia Werthimer <[log in to unmask]>
California, USA
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