Appassionato

Yo Yo Ma (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 9, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: SONY CLASSICS
• ASIN: B000KWZ7DS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,564 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #23 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Concertos > Concertinos
  • #88 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Preludes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ma exhibits the full range of his passion, January 17, 2007

By 

Brittany Lajoie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Appassionato (Audio CD)

Yo Yo Ma is known for pushing the bounds of classical music and his new cd is no exception. He began playing cello at the age of 4, and attended Julliard, Colombia, and Harvard. His primary cello today was made by Domenico Montagnana in Venice in 1733. Ma has played all types of music, from bluegrass to tango, and Appassionato is a celebration of his versatility. Ma appears here with many longtime friends, including Emmanual Ax and Isaac Stern. His close relationships are apparent in the absolute harmony of these collaborations. His new album opens with a light tune, a theme from the recent film "Memoirs of a Geisha." It then plunges into an exploration of dynamics between Ma's cello and the piano of Kathryn Stott. Reminiscent at times of Gershwin's playful "Rhapsody in Blue," the album is highly engaging, but it varies rapidly between sweet and alluring to soulful and dramatic. "Yanzi" is a ghostly tune featuring the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese flute. Brahms "'Double Concerto', Op. 102" with Isaac Stern is the finest showcase of Ma's flair and emotion, smooth and deep, with unbelievable heights. The tracks on the album were picked by Ma himself, to "represent various aspects of love." It is a carefully crafted autobiography of works recorded from 1978 to 2006, some previously released and some new. Far from a "best of" but spanning his career, Appassionato is a journey that spans the emotions and leaves the listener without a doubt that Yo Yo Ma is one of the finest cello artists in the world.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Irena Tully "Impulse Productions", January 11, 2007

By 

Graham Tully "Irena Tully, Impulse Production... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Appassionato (Audio CD)

Yo-Yo Ma performs Appassionato with superb technique, and the music on this album is sublime, mystical, sensual, optimistic, gentle and powerful at the same time. A real treat for those who seek an emotional challenge and a profound artistic experience. The more I listen to this CD the more I am astonished by the great selection of the music. It's always such a strong moment when the Cello meets the Oboe in "Gabriel's Oboe" and how they reach for each other and rise together into the most mesmerizing interaction - one is transported to a world of beautiful feelings by this music and how it is played here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There Aren't Enough Stars..., October 10, 2007

By 

Elen Pass Brandt (Northern California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Appassionato (Audio CD)

Of the thousands of albums/cds I have purchased in my lifetime -- were I to have to pick only one to keep -- this would be it.

The mark of the collection is an exquisite sensibility and technical excellence. In several of the pieces, you can feel as if your soul, rather than musical instruments, is being played -- but nothing mundane, boring, sophomoric, sentimental, or trite. The choice of material is intelligent and intuitive -- the taste of a great musician. The culmination piece by Ennio Morricone could arguably be considered the most beautiful 2 plus minutes of recorded music. It is nothing short of a cry to heaven.

Five stars -- hardly enough -- there aren't enough stars for me to rate this.