Customer Reviews

Portrait of Yo-Yo Ma

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This music is a perfect match of excellent recording quality and an incredible performer. The CD has some of Ma's most interesting and revered performances. If you are unsure about this recording I insist you buy it, whether you are a cellist or a classical listener. It is needed in your classical collection.

Yo-Yo Ma is simply captivating. There are no words to describe the power he is able to put over a listener. He is not of this world, and his music takes the breath away. There is not one "Ma note" that is lacking in skill, emotion, or personal interpretation.

the most expensive CD i bought (SGD 26!) but certainly the best! paganini's caprice number 10 is the perfect example of yo-yo's magic with the strings. haydn's concerto was cleanly done with the tones so crisp.i have fallen in love with yo-yo ma's music because of this CD.

This disc is sort of Yo-Yo's virtuoso collection. The CD is comprised largely of fairly mindless music, but at least Ma manages to make things interesting. Most of these works are played extremely well - his cello arrangement of the Dvorak-Kriesler "Songs my mother taught me" is stunning, and if the octaves (and a bit of other passagework) in the Paganani 24th caprice are out of tune, that track still serves as a tribute to his incredible technical skill. Still, some of this music (such as "The Swan") is too overplayed to be truly enjoyable at this point, and now that he has two separate sets of complete Bach Suites released (neither of which I'd recommend), the last thing anyone needs to hear is an early recording of the Bourrees from Suite 3.
The highlight is his Haydn D major concerto, which is given a simple treatment here, and it works. So crisp and clean is his playing that little else is required, from him or the orchestra, and the result is an incredibly refined performance.

As an untrained listener, you can find pure joy in the range of sounds and passion Ma's cello brings to this cd.

This CD is super. I have heard it dozens of times; it is still relaxing, fresh, and stunning.

Buy it, love it.