Obrigado Brazil: Live in Concert [includes Bonus DVD]

Yo-Yo Ma, Antonio Carlos Jobim | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 10, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0001CCX4S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,457 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #40 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Tango
  • #46 in Music > World Music > South & Central America > Argentina

Track Listings

1. Libertango

2. Chega de Saudade

3. Merengue

4. Menino

5. Aguas de Marco

6. Wapango

7. Doce de coco

8. Cristal

9. Andante and Allegro from Tango Suite

10. Afro

11. Bodas de Prata & Quatro Cantos

12. Aquarela do Brazil

13. Zita

14. So Danco Samba

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Obrigado Yo-yo!, March 4, 2004

By 

Dr. Christopher Coleman (HONG KONG) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Obrigado Brazil: Live in Concert [includes Bonus DVD] (Audio CD)

Yo-yo Ma is one of the most interesting musicians working today. His eclectic tastes bring us fascinating music from around the globe, and his astonishing musicianship guarantees excellence in every new adventure. Recent CDs have seen him venturing to China via the Silk Road and to the Belle Epoque of France. His attention has also been focused on Latin America with a series of CDs-Soul of the Tango and the studio version of Obrigado Brazil. This CD is a live concert containing some tracks from those recordings but mostly new work in the same vein. Several of the pieces on the disc are by composer/performers who perform on the recording, such as Merengue by composer/clarinettist Paquito d'Rivera. Ma and Rivera are also joined by singer Rosa Passos, guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad, Ma's long time accompanist at the piano Kathryn Stott, and a bassist and percussionist.

Listen to one of my favorite tracks, the lovely Menino, and you wil hear that Ma brings real sensibility to this music. Occasionally his performance reveals that he isn't as familiar with the style as d'Rivera or the others--he tends, for example, not to bend pitches but approach them as his Classical training would have--but this is no significant flaw, as the qualities of line and rhythm he does bring to the music compensate. Based on the reviews here at Amazon.com, some will surely complain that Obrigado Brazil Live in Concert isn't truly Brazilian music, that it's perhaps over-refined. Certainly if authentic folk music is what listeners are after, they won't find it here-it's not even all Brazilian! But they will find wonderful music, played with love and joy by superb musicians. This is just simply a terrific CD, and with a bonus DVD containing music videos of some material not on the CD, it's even better value! In fact, one of those non-Brazilian works, Libertango, by the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla is a real highlight of the recording.

Those of you who already own the studio version of Obrigado Brazil will find a little overlap-4 pieces are repeated on this disc, and there is also some overlap from Soul of the Tango. The liner notes claim that the energy of a live performance makes those works sound totally different here, but I can't agree. There are subtle variations, to be sure-for example one of the pieces has much more percussion in the studio version, and even the ambience of the studio recording is audibly different from the live concert-but these aren't wild distinctions and certainly not necessarily improvements. The energy of a live concert may well be counterbalanced by the control of a studio version. It's surely a matter of taste. Personally I usually prefer studio recordings to live. Here, though, the biggest difference is not in the comparisons of the pieces that are on both CDs, but on the contrasting approaches of the overall programme. The studio version of Obgriado Brazil is more introspective and melancholy; the concert recording has more fast, joyful works. In this case, I prefer the concert material and only mourn the loss of the joyous exhuberance of the penultimate track, Brasileirinho, and the very odd final track, Salvador, with its wild improvisation. But the live concert gives us Paquito d'Rivera's composition Afro--practically a miniature tone painting that approaches Salvador in its uniqueness.

And the compositions of one of Brazil's most well-known composers and the father of the Bossa Nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim, certainly bear mention. The two Jobim works feature the singing of Rosa Passos, whose lanquid voice perfectly captures the feel of the pieces. Regardless of what it is not, Obrigado Brazil Live in Concert will almost certainly bring you pleasure if you'll give it a chance.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a classical-Latin music blend, April 22, 2005

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Obrigado Brazil: Live in Concert [includes Bonus DVD] (Audio CD)

Yo Yo Ma and his fellow musicians make beautiful music in this mellow adaptation of melodies that have their origin in Latin America.
The opening track is a version of "Libertango", heard in the fabulous soundtrack of the film "The Tango Lesson", and one of the three compositions by Astor Piazzolla, in this concert that was recorded live at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in 2003. The group of assorted and marvelous musicians toured the world with this music, and there is a cohesion between the performers and the material they are playing that is evident, and a pleasure to hear. One hears the applause, but it is not obtrusive, and the sound is excellent for a live recording.

Very impressive is the clarinet of 6 time Grammy Award winner and composer Paquito D'Rivera, who wrote 3 of the tracks, and shows his virtuosity and Cuban soul in 7 pieces, and I especially like his "Merengue".
Rosa Passos sings and plays guitar on 4 tracks, and has a soft, clear, and pleasing voice, and 3 of the songs she interprets so well are by her fellow countryman and Brazilian bossa nova artist Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Other musicians are Sergio and Odair Assad on guitars, Kathryn Scott on piano, Nilson Matta on bass, and Cyro Baptista on percussion. Yo Yo Ma is of course the household name among them, and is masterful in his interpretations throughout; I especially like him in D'Rivera's "Afro", a fascinating piece with some experimental sounds.
Other favorites for me are D'Rivera's "Wapango", and "Cristal" (Camargo Mariano), a rhythmic duet between Ma and Scott that is terrific.
This CD has the feel of a classical chamber concert, with the warmth of melodious Latin compositions, and is a nice and unique musical treat.
The foldout insert has liner notes by D'Rivera, recording info, and mini bios of Ma's 7 fellow musicians; total playing time is 72'07.

This package contains a bonus DVD, that includes 3 videos:
1. Piazzolla's "Libertango", from the original soundtrack of Sally Potter's film "The Tango Lesson", with clips of the great tango dancer Pablo Veron.
2. "Brasileirinho", by Waldir Azevedo, featuring Paquito D'Rivera, from the "Obrigado Brazil" CD.
3. Jobim's "Chega de Saudage" interpreted by Rosa Passos, from the "Obrigado Brazil" CD.
It also includes a very short interview with Yo Yo Ma.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Obrigado Brazil: Live in Concert [includes Bonus DVD] (Audio CD)

I agree with most of what Dr. Christopher Coleman wrote in his March 4, 2004, review. My view, however, is that this live CD is clearly preferable to the studio version, which, by contrast, is relatively sterile-sounding. The live CD is perhaps the best-sounding CD (i.e., as to recording-quality in itself) that I have heard from Sony. And the music is quite infectious. Very nice.