add to wish list | library


8 of 8 recommend this,
would you recommend it?

yes | no

Support this site by purchasing from these vendors using the paid links below. As an Amazon Associate SA-CD.net earns from qualifying purchases.
 
amazon.ca
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.de
 
amazon.fr
amazon.it
 
 

Discussion: Solo - Yo-Yo Ma

Posts: 16
Page: prev 1 2

Post by Julien April 17, 2007 (11 of 16)
Windsurfer said:

Oui Monsieur!

But have you heard Rostropovitch?

Without taking anything from Ma, so too is "Slava"! He, like Julia Fischer, plays from within the orchestra not apart from it, engaging soloists within the orchestra when there are dialogs between solo cello and those instrumentalists!

What you say here is interesting. Even if Ma's style of play in concertos is very "showman" sometimes, any musician who has played with him will tell you that he is one of the most outstanding chamber music players in this world. This has never been the case for Slava. I even remember Richter's comments about their Beethoven triple concerto, admiring Oistrakh and saying how Rostropovitch and Karajan were more concerned about their ego than the music.

On this matter, Ma is the one closer to Julia Fischer IMO, who truly is a chamber music player even in concertos. She, unlike many soloists out there, does not play ahead of the orchestra, but inside. You're absolutely right.

Slava was not really playing inside the orchestra in my opinion. That is, of course, compared to other fantastic musicians, which he is of course.

Pablo Casals, Slava Rostropovitch, and Yo-Yo Ma. These are for sure the three ambassadors of the cello in the 20th century. Three truly great artists. Casals is like the father, Slava is the cellist among cellists, the most perfect cello technique you will ever hear and the sound every single cellist tries to imitate without success. Yo-Yo is the child prodigy, Stern's "protégé", who then made the cello popular among many different worlds, playing all kinds of music with no borders and becoming a star even outside the classical world.

I meet many people who do not take him seriously, thinking that someone who plays any kind of music and advertises for Rolex must be closer to Hollywood's red carpet and cannot be a serious artist. Well for most people it would be like it. Not Yo-Yo Ma.

And by the way Bruce, if you love Slava, have a look at my review on his Arpeggione sonata. Even if you're a multi-channel guy, the recording is the best analogue stereo possible on a perfect remastering. And also the best I've ever heard from Slava.

Post by Julien April 17, 2007 (12 of 16)
Beagle said:

Julien,

You and I share many enthusiams, but I regret to say that Ma is not one.

Yo-Yo Ma's pizzicati in the Schubert quintet with the Cleveland. The version is not my favorite, though still artistically much more interesting than the Praga release IMO. But Yo-Yo's art is unique. He is the music. Not two pizzicati are the same, the phrasing he achieves in pizzicato is breathtaking. I'm out of words every time I listen to it.

The Brahms piano quartets with Stern, Ax and Laredo. By the way much better sounding than the quadraphonic Beaux-Arts on Pentatone (the only quadraphonic I've heard that sounds bad so far). And listen to Ma's playing. The phrasing in the opening of the op. 60 slow movement.

Beethoven's triple concerto, the phrasing in the opening theme of the third movement. Pure genius again.

His tango release is beautiful. It's a pity that the recording is that fake though, I guess it was a commercial approach made to sound impressive on any crapy system. But his playing is beautiful.

His Obrigado Brazil is even better, and sounds very good and "normal" on SACD. And listen to his playing on track 14. I cannot imagine anyone else who could express that much in this music.

If you listen to all I just pointed, and at least a few times each, I hope you will admire the guy.

Post by Julien April 17, 2007 (13 of 16)
georgeflanagin said:

I have nine complete sets of the Bach Suites.

I like none. I'm still waiting for a version I like, and the violin sonatas and partitas too.

Especially with string instruments, I'm having trouble enjoying Bach in modern performances. It's like speaking a language with an awful accent, it can be beautiful sometimes, but will never capture the essence of the music to my ears.
Most "period informed" performances sound polite to my ears, thus sometimes even worse (sometimes great too it depends). They all try to be light and "stylish", and end up being not involving at all (this is even more true for Mozart and Haydn, musics that sometimes have so much fire and sound aristocratic and polite in most modern interpretations). What I used to tell my students was try this baroque or classical bow, that'll give you an idea of how the composer might have heard it, or at least what kind of play was not conceivable at that time.
That all is very personal, my feeling is that most of the time I don't believe we can invent a more appropriate style than the composer could imagine, and composers usually don't compose all their works thinking this instrument is not able to serve my music and needs some new technology.

Slava Rostropovitch's version of the Bach suites is a bit of a joke, unfortunately. Out of tune, no stylistic work at all. But structurally speaking, his vision is audible. Just not enough work.
Yo-Yo Ma's playing in Bach is not my cup of tea either.
Suzuki's does not speak to me at all.
Wispelwey's playing is technically speaking the most perfect you'll ever hear in Bach's suites. I heard him play all in one concert, and even the professional cellists in the hall (quite a few of France's best on that day) were amazed at his playing without accidents and perfectly in tune (on a baroque cello and with gut strings, this is a lot harder). But to me his style is not what I like, even though I respect his work a lot.

I would say Bylsma's second recording with Sony is the most involving to my ears and sensibility. But I'm still waiting.

Post by Windsurfer April 18, 2007 (14 of 16)
Julien said:


Slava was not really playing inside the orchestra in my opinion. That is, of course, compared to other fantastic musicians, which he is of course.

I don't question what you say about Ma. And perhaps I am misusing the term "playing from within the orchestra" to describe what I saw, but I don't know how else to express it. A couple years ago - maybe 3, I really can't remember - we attended a concert in which he played Strauss's Don Quixhote.

In addition to his rapt attention to what the violist was doing, it was also evident that he was keenly interested in and responding to what other soloists within the orchestra were doing.

We were sitting in the first balcony overlooking the stage. Not my first choice for a seat, for sure, but it is my wife's favorite place to be. This was a concert purchased in addition to our regular series which is why I was not in my preferred location in the right corner of the center 2nd balcony - practically at the other end of the hall from the seats we had that night.

Post by Edvin April 18, 2007 (15 of 16)
"Playing from within the orchestra". When I heard him many years ago in Stockholm he actually sat in with the cello section in the second half of the concert. A Brahms symphony if I remember correctly. I like him a lot. His Elgar/Walton with Previn is underrated.

Post by Dan Popp April 18, 2007 (16 of 16)
georgeflanagin wrote:
There is an option that does not involve the recording or playback equipment: find the power switch on the air handler, and turn it off.

I've certainly been there and done that. It can become quite uncomfortable during long sessions. And you also complained about trains?

If, as you wrote, the extraneous noise does not bother the listener in the concert hall, and assuming an unhyped bass response on the recording, doesn't that suggest that the solution may lie in the playback equipment?

Page: prev 1 2

Closed