Customer Reviews

Yo-Yo Ma - Inspired by Bach Vol. 1, The Music Garden / The Sound of the Carceri (Cello Suites 1 & 2)

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

 

 

The "Inspired By Bach" series was a great attempt by Ma, serveral film makers and other artists/professionals to "map" each Bach's unacompanied cello suite to a subject. In this DVD, Suite No. 1 was mapped to a "Musical Garden" and Suite No. 2 "Architectural Space."

Unlike other reviewers, I found the DVD interesting and satifying (especially the Musical Garden/Suite No. 1 part). Some people mistakenly assumed the DVD was a concert recording and were subsequently disappointed. Well, I actually thought the contents of the DVD were more interesting and inspiring than straight concert recording - you not only get to hear Yo-Yo Ma's performing on Bach's cello suites but also see his inspirations outside the pure music domain.

The DVD's video and sound quality is high. Ma was, as always, playing majestically and flawlessly. One would also be charmed by his charisma and optimism. It's fun to see (and easy to understand) the awe people felt when watching and listening to his live performance. And Bach's Cello Suites, ah, were so beautiful beyond words.

Highly recommended.

A few years ago, Yo-Yo Ma created in collaboration with a number of artists and filmmakers a 6-part film series "Inspired by Bach", which explored the visual and spatial quality of Bach's suites for unaccompanied cello.

In Part 1, Ma worked with garden designer Julie Moir Messervy to create a garden in Boston, inspired by the First Suite. The plan fell through due to the lack of commercial financial support. Toronto then showed an interest in the project. The film, directed by Kevin McMahon, ended when private donors were secured and construction work was ready to start.

The idea of "Inspired by Bach" was a great one. But watching the "Music Garden" (part 1 of the series) was a frustrating experience. People behind this film did not intend to follow this project to its very end. Instead, they had a deadline when the film must be finished. That explained why the film ended where it ended.

Viewers, including myself, must have asked "What happened then?" ... The Music Garden was opened in June 1999, as part of the City of Toronto Harbourfront Parks System!

In my opinion, Part 2 is inspired by Piranesi, who left us with etchings of the Carceri (prison), not by Bach. The inspiration is: if we build a virtual Carceri based on the etchings, and record a piece of music (in this case, it is Ma playing Bach's Second Suite for Unaccompanied Cello) there, what would the sonic effect be?

The important thing here is the virtual realisation of 2-D drawings into a 3D structure and the recording of music there. Who plays who's what music is relatively unimportant. For example, there is no reason why Ma can't instead play the Third Suite or a Piazolla tango piece in the prison!

In short, I can't see what the film has got to do with "inspired by Bach".

Actually, a viewer can ask even more critical questions: Why Piranesi? What's so special about the Carceri etchings? I don't think the film offers convincing answers.

P.S. I notice that some reviewers gave very low ratings for the "Inspired by Bach" film series, mainly because they thought they were buying the concert recordings of Yo-Yo Ma's CDs of the same name. My advice is, to avoid disappointment, please make sure you know what you are buying. The CDs are the by-products of, or the accompaniment to, the "Inspired by Bach" film series, not the other way round.

I saw these on public TV back when they were originally released. Each piece was set in a visual/virtual space. As a musician-artist the combination of site and sound drew me into a deeper appreciation for Ma's playing and for Bach's work. Basically, these films were my introduction to Yo-Yo Ma. I would not have "caught on" nearly as quickly without them. As with most good things in life the journey is as important as the destination, and these films represent an intriguing fusion of visual dimension & texture with very moving musical performances. The realism of the immense Carceri prison floored me, and the slow pans and 360s around Ma as he played "there" were awesome. If you have a good sound system, draw the shades and crank it.

Some people gave low ratings to these DVDs because they expected concert footage. Obviously they didn't read Amazon's product description. (Duh!!) No prevarication there.

The presentation is too choppy with many agendas that really do not relate to the music but is force to have a relationship. They build a garden instead of concrete to protect from another Oklahoma incident. Great just what I want to think about with Bach.

The DVD's have the obligatory extras besides the film. Unfortunately the extras are just as chopped up into unrelated sound bites.

I suffered through the first two DVD's and learned my lesson.

I have to agree with other viewers, who are dissapointed in the video itself.

The music is quite good, though not my favorite interpretation of the Bach suites. However, when it comes time to hear the piece, we don't even see Yo-yo playing. We see him pretending to play, while the camera does all these tricks that in the end make us more motion-sick than anything.

Quite a dissapointment - are the other volumes this bad?

There are few moments in time when you see your dreams of perfection coming true. Yo-Yo Ma and garden designer Julie Moir Messervy have a dream of a Music Garden and the first Garden is pure perfection. On paper and it looks spectacular and as you watch, you can't wait to see it appear in completion. The disappointment is that a second garden must be designed.

Through the frustration and joys, Yo-Yo Ma creates magic as flower gardens spin around him and he sits in front of office buildings, contrasting his magical artistic vision with a rather stark picture of corporate life and the struggles to obtain the funds to create the magical worlds residing in the imagination, awaiting birth. Boston is not quite ready for the vision, but Toronto embraces this beautiful dream.

In the second movie, visions from the past are more deeply analyzed in order to produce a stunning "Carceri" in which Yo-Yo Ma celebrates Johann Sebastian Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. As a Prison of the Imagination becomes the background, Yo-Yo Ma frees the mind with a stunning performance. As if channeling the past, he creates moods to suit each landscape.

In both movies, the element of time is played out effectively. In the first movie, time is of the essence and a garden must be planned and created within months. In the second movie, time seems to stand still as the past and the present form a unity of vision. Throughout both beautiful visions, the idea of creating what must outlive our short lives is an echoing theme that reverberates within the soul and will be remembered.

~The Rebecca Review

Yoyo Ma's musical talent is marvelous.
Unfortunately the music is just the background noise in this DVD! Pity!
This DVD shows a talent been exploited in a senseless way. In desperation to market himself (via Bach) as a philosopher and rescuer of the modern chaos cities' parks! He is quite famous now. May be the eternal and universal fame is what he is after! His companion (what is her name again?) and the (city) politicians had shown the best part of the worse pretentious people. If you want to watch these things, do not bother to buy this DVD, turn on the TV or go to political compaigns. Other things around his performace makes me downgrade this DVD to one star (cannot go lower in this review board).
This review sounds senseless. This DVD is that senseless.
Oh no. People may be curios and buy this DVD! This could be the only reason make this DVD as popular as "The temptation of Christ".
Music lovers and Yoya Ma's fan better not see this DVD.

I was so excited to see the dvd version of this film. But I am quite disappointed mainly because the poor video quality as newly released dvd production. It has a lot of digital artifact which showed clearly on my HDTV.

I assumed I was buying a concert recording , but in fact this DVD focuses on producers and people behind the scenes in making a Yo-Yo Ma DVD. This DVD is quite long with very little music per se and what music is there takes place in some sort of fairy tale place hardly what I expected. I would not recommend this DVD. I prefer to watch and listen to the artist with an orchestra and savor the sounds.