Julius Patzak was born 9 April 1898 in Vienna. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all schoolteachers. He attended school in Vienna, and then completed his military service in what was then Serbia. On the advice of his father, he became a civil servant and worked in the office of the Youth Council of Vienna. At the same time he attended lectures at the University of Vienna with the intention of becoming a conductor. He studied musicology and conducting under Franz Schmidt, Guido Adler, Grädener, Wellesz, and Mandyczewski.

However, Patzak was destined for a different career. Although he allegedly never took voice lessons, his gift for singing distinguished him during an amateur concert of the Viennese Schubert Society. He was subsequently offered a contract for what would be his operatic debut at the Reichenberg Theater in Bohemia on 3 April 1926, in the role of Radames (Aida). After spending the 1927/28 season in Brno (Brünn), he joined the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, and was their leading tenor from 1928-1945.

Patzak's first wife, Hedwig, died soon after his move to Munich. The couple had one daughter, Eva. In 1931 he married Maria Walter, grandaughter of the famous operatic singer Gustav Walter. After the second world war, Patzak left Munich and sang with the Vienna Staatsoper from 1945 until he retired in 1960. He appeared regularly in the Salzburg Festivals, including the world premieres of Von Einem's Danton's Tod and Martin's Le Vin Herbé. He also taught at the Salzburg Mozarteum from 1962 to 1966 and at the Music Academy in Vienna from 1948 until his death.

Best known for his interpretations of Mozart's Tamino and Belmonte, Beethoven's Florestan and Pfitzner's Palestrina, Patzak had a repertoire of some 70 roles which ranged from Singspiel and operetta through the lighter Wagner roles and Richard Strauss to Verdi, Puccini and Mussorgsky. He was in great demand as a soloist in oratorios and as a lieder singer. Patzak only appeared in the United States once; the 1954 Cincinnati May Festival. Late in his career he was still a marvellously subtle and stylish performer of Viennese Heurigen songs and he also took up conducting again. He died in Röttach-Egern, Bavaria, Germany, on 26 January 1974 at the age of 75.

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio [7:49]
Aria of Florestan "Gott, welch Dunkel hier"

O.B.E. was an English cellist, today acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of the instrument. She is particularly associated with Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor; her interpretation of this work has been described as "definitive" and "legendary".[1] Following her premature death from multiple sclerosis in 1987, a book about her family life was written by her sister Hilary du Pré and her brother Piers. This book formed the basis for the movie Hilary and Jackie which aroused fierce controversy.

In March 1961, at age sixteen, du Pré made her formal début at Wigmore Hall, London, and she made her concerto début in 1962 at Royal Festival Hall playing the Elgar Cello Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Rudolf Schwarz. She performed at The Proms in 1963 playing the Elgar concerto again, with Sir Malcolm Sargent. Her performance of the concerto proved so popular she subsequently returned three years in succession to perform the work. Du Pré became a favourite at the Proms, performing in the British festival every year until 1969.

In 1965, at age twenty, du Pré recorded the Elgar concerto for EMI with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli, which brought her international recognition. This recording has since become the benchmark reference for the work, and one which has never been out of print since its release over forty years ago. Du Pré also performed the Elgar with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Antal Dorati for her United States début at Carnegie Hall on May 14, 1965.

Throughout her career, du Pré performed with the most prestigious orchestras and conductors, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, New Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She regularly performed with conductors such as Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, and Leonard Bernstein.

Du Pré primarily played two Stradivari cellos, the instrument of 1673, and the 1712 Davidov Stradivarius. Both instruments were gifts from her godmother, Ismena Holland. She performed with the 1673 Stradivarius from 1961 until 1964 when she acquired the Davidov. Many of her most famous recordings were made on this instrument, including the Elgar Concerto with Barbirolli, the Robert Schumann Cello Concerto with Barenboim and the two Brahms cello sonatas. From 1969 to 1970 du Pré played a Francesco Goffriller cello, and in 1970 she acquired a modern instrument from the Philadelphia violin maker Sergio Peresson. It was the Peresson cello that du Pré played for the remainder of her career until 1973, including a second, live recording of the Elgar Concerto, and her last studio recording in 1971 of the sonatas by Frédéric Chopin and César Franck.

Her friendship with musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta, and Pinchas Zukerman, and marriage to Barenboim, led to many memorable chamber music performances, and the 1969 performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London of the Schubert Piano Quintet ("Trout"), also resulted in a film, The Trout, made by Christopher Nupen. Nupen made other films featuring du Pré, including Jacqueline du Pré and the Elgar Cello Concerto, a documentary featuring a live performance of the Elgar, and The Ghost, with Barenboim and Zukerman in a performance of the Piano Trio, Op. 70, no. 1 in D Major by Beethoven.

BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No.3 in A Op.69 [9:22]
I. Allegro ma non troppo

(Piano - Daniel Barenboim)