By Aranne Jung
Hailed as one of the greatest classical recordings of all time, Jacqueline du Pré’s rendition of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor with Sir John Baribirolli and the London Symphony orchestra has enamored classical music fans for over 50 years (“The 10 greatest classical music recordings,” 2014).
A recording of Jacqueline du Pré performing her famous Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Baribirolli.
Born in Oxford in 1945, Jacqueline du Pré first heard the sound of the cello when she was four years old (Padfield, 2025). She told her mother, “I want to make that sound,” and began playing the cello at the age of five. She quickly excelled and at only 11 years old, she won the Guilhermina Suggia Award, Britain’s most prestigious cello award (Horvath, 2018). Her cello career continued to flourish, and she formally debuted at Wigmore Hall five years later.
In 1965, du Pré recorded her famous Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor. Her emotional performance captured both Elgar’s lament and the heart of the audience, and the cello concerto soon became her signature piece. The music world suddenly turned their eyes to her, and du Pré soon became known as one of the best cellists in England. Du Pré’s career flourished, she performed solos around the world. She also performed alongside other famous musicians and conductors, including Izthak Perlman and Sir John Baribirolli (Robinson, 2025).
In 1966, just a year after her famous recording, du Pré met her husband, renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim at a Christmas party (Padfield, 2025). The two got married in Jerusalem in the following year. Known as the “golden couple of the musical world,” the two would go on to perform and record many pieces together, stunning the world with their music (Green, 2015).
Barenboim conducts the London Symphony Orchestra with du Pré, performing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor.
To her friends, du Pré was affectionately called “Jackie” or “Smiley” for her bright smile and kindness (Tierradentro-García et al., 2018). To the music world, she was a stunning figure who graced the stage with her beaming smile and passionate playing, capturing the wide, emotional range of the pieces she performed. Throughout her career, du Pré studied under legendary cellists and elicited heartfelt praise from them. Her teacher and renowned cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, stated that among the new generation of cellists, only she could play better than him (Neece, 2021).
Suddenly, in 1971, du Pré began to experience extreme fatigue. In the following years, as she embarked on what would be her final tour, her symptoms worsened, and she reported a numbness in her fingertips (Tierradentro-García et al., 2018). She could not feel the weight of her cello bow and even struggled to open her cello case (Taylor, 2022). She later recalled that her “hands no longer worked,” and she “simply couldn’t feel the strings” (Anderson, 1978). Her illustrious performing career came to a close in February, 1973, when she gave her final performance in New York City (DM, 2022). At the age of 28, she retired from performing and turned to a life of teaching. One of her students recalled that she was dedicated teacher, and that “her comments were invariably constructive – try this, try that, more bowing, make it more of a statement – and delivered with patience and great good humour” (Tierradentro-García et al., 2018).
In the following October, du Pré was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (Tierradentro-García et al., 2018). Although many were initially optimistic that she would recover, another series of tests in 1975 showed that her condition was worsening (“Elgar – His Music,” n.d.). As the years passed, the numbness and lack of control of her limbs became more evident. By 1976, she was in a wheelchair, but continued to teach. In 1980, she reported she could not read. On October 19, 1987, at the age of 42, Jacqueline du Pré passed away.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune, inflammatory disease. Today, over 2.8 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (“MS Prevalence,” n.d.). In the United States alone, almost 1 million people have been diagnosed with MS.
In patients who experience MS, their autoimmune cells attack and degrade a part of the nerves called myelin. Myelin is essential for helping the nerve conduct and send signals to control the body. As myelin degrades, these signals slow or completely stop, leading to a myriad of debilitating motor and cognitive symptoms. Symptoms include numbness, loss of vision, difficulty walking, mood swings, depression, and more (“Multiple sclerosis,” n.d.). There is no cure for multiple sclerosis.
The process of diagnosing MS is rather extensive. There is currently no test that can directly check for MS. Instead, physicians must find evidence of damage that occurred at different points in time, and in at least two areas of the brain, spinal cord, or optic nerves (“How MS Is Diagnosed,” n.d.). They must also rule out other possibilities, like brain tumors or inflammation of the central nervous system.
This multi-step process can become even more complicated if patients have been previously diagnosed with a mental illness or another condition (Liberati et al., 2025). Diagnostic overshadowing, or overshadowing bias, occurs when a patient’s physical symptoms are incorrectly attributed to an existing diagnosis (Hayhow et al., 2014). Diagnostic overshadowing can also be influenced by underlying stereotypes and impressions based on people’s physical disabilities (Iezzoni, 2019). Similarly, gender bias has also influenced doctors to not believe female patients’ symptoms, or fail to correctly diagnose and treat them (“Gender bias in healthcare,” 2021). Diagnostic overshadowing has also been shown to fewer diagnoses of females with autism and ADHD (Martin, 2024). Especially when diagnosing patients with neurological disorders, diagnostic overshadowing can lead to serious delays in timely, essential treatments.
Patients have shared painful experiences where they were repeatedly incorrectly diagnosed and treated, leading to prolonged pain and discrimination from the health care system. One patient, who was previously diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and had a history of alcoholism, was pushed around by more than three specialists for what was eventually diagnosed as a rare autoinflammatory disease (Tcheurekdjian et al., 2023). Health care workers blamed her for her symptoms, stating that they were “all from her alcoholism,” and dismissed her when she told them that she was not intentionally harming herself (Munetz & Freedman, 2023). The patient underwent a myriad of ineffective treatments that caused other painful symptoms like lesions and hair loss. Eventually, after over 18 months of tests and treatments, the patient was correctly diagnosed and has been receiving effective care since.
Specific to MS, a case study in New Zealand revealed how diagnostic overshadowing prevented a man diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder from being diagnosed with MS (Hayhow et al., 2014). Although he had been experiencing declining cognitive function (a common symptom of MS) for several years, it was repeatedly attributed to his schizoaffective disorder and treatment. Finally, an MRI and other diagnostic exams revealed that he had MS.
In Jacqueline du Pré’s case, after she first experienced extreme fatigue and a lack of control in her finger tips, her doctors simply told her that it was stress (“Cello Concerto,” n.d.). She was pushed to play concerts, which ultimately ended in harsh critiques from the audience. In 1973, during her final series of performances, du Pré saw a doctor in New York, but was simply prescribed rest. It was not until the following October, in London, that she would be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis–a long four years after the initial appearance of her symptoms. This delay could be partially attributed to the historic lack of knowledge of MS. Today, MRIs are a vital diagnostic tool for detecting and managing MS (“MRI Imaging Fact Sheet,” n.d.). This technology was unavailable during du Pré’s time (the first full-body MRI scan was in 1977), which may have delayed her diagnosis (Rabi, n.d.). However, diagnostic overshadowing and gender bias can also be strong contributors to her delayed diagnosis and treatment. The repeated dismissal of her symptoms as stress follows the history of dismissal of female patients’ symptoms. Combined with the lack of awareness of MS, du Pré’s diagnosis was further delayed and complicated.
Diagnostic overshadowing is a part of a larger social issue of the stigmatization of mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses are often stereotyped as “crazy” or “violent,” and people with substance use disorders are frequently blamed for their condition (Committee on the Science of Changing Behavioral Health, 2016).These stigmas lead to prejudice and discrimination, and also poses a significant barrier for people to receive essential care. People frequently do not seek behavioral health care because they are concerned about other people’s opinion of them or the negative effect it could have on their job (Committee on the Science of Changing Behavioral Health, 2016). Care is also expensive and unaffordable for many, with over 48% of people not receiving behavioral health care due to its price.
Even when patients do seek care, they often face discrimination within the health care system. Structural stigma is evident in the system as low quality of care and limited services for patients with mental illnesses (Committee on the Science of Changing Behavioral Health, 2016). Research has shown that health care providers who hold stronger stigmas about patients with mental illnesses showed stronger pessimism about patients’ adherence to treatment plans (Corrigan et al., 2014). Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia have been found to have higher rates of infections and complications and be hospitalized for longer (Jones et al., 2008). Providers are also less likely to refer patients with mental illnesses to important tests or procedures, further contributing to diagnostic overshadowing (Koroukian et al., 2012).
Outside of healthcare, the stigmatization of mental illnesses can negatively affect people’s social lives. A study conducted in 2000 found that 70% of participants experienced discrimination from people around them, including family, friends, and healthcare workers (Chadda, 2000). People with mental illnesses often face discrimination the workplace, and find it more difficult to get employed, have less opportunities than their peers, and are sometimes terminated without sufficient reason (Franco, 2025).
These stigmas can have deadly effects. Research has shown that people with serious mental illnesses were more likely to die 10-15 years earlier than others of their age (Corrigan et al., 2014). When people internalize these stereotypes, they begin to believe that they can not recover (Yanos et al., 2020). This belief lowers people’s self esteem and hope, and these negative feelings can decrease their social interactions and use of support services. These emotions also increase their risk for suicide.
Popular media has often negatively contributed to the public’s understanding and perception of neurological disorders and mental illnesses. A study analyzed popular movies from 2016 to 2022 and found that while mental illnesses were rarely shown in movies, they perpetuated a violent and dehumanizing stereotype, further worsening existing social stigmas (Pieper, 2023).
Award-winning movies are not exempt from this, and have been shown to further perpetuate these stereotypes. A study conducted in 2020 found that viewers who watched the critically-acclaimed movie Joker (2019) tended to have higher levels of prejudice towards individuals with mental illnesses (Scarf et al., 2020). Similarly, a study conducted in 1983 found that college students who watched the famous movie One who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest developed more negative perceptions of mental illnesses, psychiatric institutions, and electroconvulsive therapy (Domino, 1983). The movie has been repeatedly criticized for negatively and brutally depicting psychiatric hospitals, increasing public fear and stigmas about them (Haider, 2018). This incorrect yet prevalent image of psychiatric hospitals as a torturous place has further contributed to the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and deferring patients from seeking the necessary care.
Girl, Interrupted (1999) has been similarly criticized for its misportrayal of mental illnesses. Moreover, some argue that this movie plays into cinema’s tendency to hyper-sexualize female characters, especially those with mental illnesses (Costello, 2022). This is shown through the movie’s focus on the sexual parts of the character Susanna’s bipolar disorder. Not only does this sexualize the character, but it also creates a false image of the symptoms of bipolar disorder (Clouse, 2023).
The misportrayal of neurological disorders and mental illnesses is also evident in Jacqueline du Pré’s story. Nine years after her death, du Pré’s siblings Hilary and Piers du Pré published A Genius in the Family. The book details Jacqueline’s siblings’ memories of their sister. The book claims that it is “not a biography nor account of Jackie’s [Jacqueline’s] career,” but “simply what happened” (Du Pré, 1998). Two years later, in 1998, the movie Hilary and Jackie was released. The movie was based on the narrative of A Genius in the Family. Most notably, these two pieces of media claimed that after the onset of her MS, Jacqueline became depressed and treated her depression by sleeping with her sister’s husband, Christopher Finzi. In a later article, Hilary claims that she allowed the affair because “if [she] had said no to letting Jackie sleep with [her] husband…it would have broken [Jacqueline] completely – and it would have broken [her] as well” (“The truth about our wonderful sister,” 1999). However, Finzi was also known as a “sexual therapist” and often slept with other women (Shakespeare, n.d.).
Controversy and outrage quickly followed the release of Hilary and Jackie. Many famous musicians who had worked with Jacqueline du Pré, including Izthak Perlman and Msitslav Rostropovich, voiced their disagreements, describing the movie’s depiction of the artist as “selfish, spoilt and manipulative” in a joint letter to the London Times (Fielden, 1999). Jacqueline’s niece Clare Finzi stated that she “could barely live with the book,” and after the movie’s release, “the distortions [were] out there, diminishing Jackie’s music” (Fielden, 1999). Others argued that Hilary wrote the book out of jealousy of her sister’s success (Dreher, 1999). In response to the criticism, Hilary claimed that “the book was written…to give an insight into Jackie’s genius that only we, her family had,” and that she “had to show the MS side of her” (“The truth about our wonderful sister,” 1999). Hilary also argued that her sister, if she were still alive, would have loved the movie (Gritten, 1999).
As more conflicting accounts came to light, the media continued to sensationalize Jacqueline du Pré’s life. John Williams and Cynthia Friend, who were both very close with du Pré, claimed that Hilary and Piers repeatedly told du Pré that her MS was “God’s punishment” for converting to Judaism to marry her husband (“The truth about our wonderful sister,” 1999). They further pointed out her family’s hypocrisy, noting that they were not by her side through her struggle from MS. Even as recently as 2021 has du Pré’s struggle with MS and death been dramatized by the media. In her memoir This Much is True, actress Miriam Margoyles claimed that Jacqueline du Pré did not die from MS, but in an assisted suicide (Thorpe & Wiseman, 2021).
Du Pré’s life as a talented cellist, her battle with MS, and the media’s sensationalization of her life after her passing illustrate how little we know about MS and other neurological disorders. Moreover, the media’s sensationalization of her life further shows the significant role media plays in misportraying neurological disorders and mental illnesses, contributing to false and harmful stereotypes.
Regardless of how the media sensationalized her life, Jacqueline du Pré’s legacy still remains today. She is memorialized in a statue in Kensington Park, in London. The music hall at Oxford University carries her name. Today, Yo-Yo Ma owns and performs with her 1712 Stradivarius cello (Robinson, 2025). Many young cellists (like myself!) look up to her as a talented, inspirational musician who not only played beautifully, but also challenged the “unlady-like” barriers of the traditionally male-dominated cello. Other musicians, like pianist Alice Sara Ott, who was recently diagnosed with MS, have also found solace in du Pré’s experience with the illness (Hernández, 2024). Today, over 30 years after her death, Jacqueline du Pré’s mark on history shines brighter than ever, both as an enduring musical inspiration for future generations of musicians, but also as a tragic reminder of our minimal knowledge of multiple sclerosis and the devastating consequences of human biases.
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