Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

Yo-Yo Ma (Performer), Ennio Morricone (Composer), Ennio / Tommasi, Amedeo Morricone (Composer), Ennio Morricone (Conductor), Roma Sinfonietta (Orchestra), Gilda Buttà (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Yo-Yo Ma, Gilda Buttà
• Orchestra: Roma Sinfonietta
• Conductor: Ennio Morricone
• Composer: Ennio Morricone, Ennio / Tommasi, Amedeo Morricone
• Audio CD (September 28, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0002YCVXI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #551 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ennio Morricone is well-known to moviegoers. His soundtracks for The Mission, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America, Cinema Paradiso, and others are invariably warmly melodic and superbly suited to the films they grace. They not only add atmosphere; they help tell the story. For this CD Morricone has created new orchestrations for many of his scores, adding a solo cello part for the indefatigable Yo-Yo Ma, whose musical curiosity seems to be endless. Outside the films, these pieces tend to be lovely melodies, mostly pretty sentimental stuff, and, in the best way, gorgeous aural wallpaper. The most moving are the two selections from The Mission, but fans of Morricone's music will find plenty to enjoy here. Ma's playing, as always, is exquisite---warm, deeply felt (given the circumstances), and entirely idiomatic within the context. Perhaps not quite for the classical music lover, but an affectionate reworking of music by an important film composer. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This album is so good the first time I heard it I cried, December 9, 2004

By	Gwyn Gwyrdd "geek" (USA) - See all my reviews

I had the privilege of seeing Yo Yo Ma in concert here in the U.S. when he was a relative newcomer in the classical world. I was a little girl and I sat in that symphony hall and cried as I watched a man and his instrument become one.

I have not had that sort of emotional response to anything Ma has done since that time, no matter how wonderful and perfect his playing is. That being said, this album made me cry like a baby. In the store. Yes, in public. The level of emotional perfection and purity in Ma's intonality - the gentle caress of each note is simply unmatched. And as other reviewers have already stated, the entire album is consistent.

Yo Yo Ma aside for a moment, I was already fan of some of the pieces on this album before hearing Ma's interpretation. Being familiar with them, I really wondered about their adaptibility to cello performance. What surprised me is that not only does every piece chosen work - but they outdo their original and marvelous construction. Yo Yo Ma has raised the level of Morricone's compositions to heights that a Morricone fan would not have ever believed possible. As a result, you will appreciate both of these artists more for what each has done for the other.

If I could only own one album by Yo Yo Ma, this, folks, would be it.

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morricone and Ma - Il Buono Meets Il Buono, October 1, 2004

By	Mark D Burgh "Music, Writing, Art, Film, Hist... (Fort Smith, AR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ennio Morricone's sense of melody is unsurpassed not only in the world of film, but in Art music and Popular music as well. From the mid-1960's on, when Morricone wrote devestating, original scores for Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, Morricone's ability to combine classical melodic lines with grunts, whistles, electric guitars and drums often surpassed the films he scored. His music, unlike most film composer's, adds new layers of meaning onto whatever images flash by.

Yo-Yo Ma's melodic feel matches Morricone's evocative melodies; I would have never imagined the cello being an effective vehicle for a Morricone transcription, but now that I hear Ma playing, I hear how obvious and how perfect the congruence sounds. The richness of Morricone's later scores - Cinema Paradiso - The Mission - The Untouchables surround me with a palpable presence that outlives the echoes of the the film's images.

My personal favorite of Morricone's work has always been "The Good, the Bad, and Ugly," and while Ma only plays one selection, the piece he chose, "The Ecstasy of Gold" makes up for the lack of other music from the film. The tense theme works around a circular four note statement that grows and grows in intensity and speed, eventually accompanied by drums and full orchestra, until Ma's cellos fills the room with urgency, greed, and violence.

I can't recommend this CD too highly for lovers of Ennio Morricone or Yo-Yo Ma.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yo-Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone.... Finally!!!!, September 27, 2004

By	amazonka - See all my reviews

Cello sound reminds me a human voice. When I hear a cello, I feel something inside my chest. I cannot explain this, but I feel very deeply the cello voice. It's a very emotional experience for me. That's why I love it very much!

Recently, I discovered, that Yo-Yo Ma plays Morricone. I am sure you know the music of the famous Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Now, imagine all his famous titles are re-arranged for cello and orchestra. CD includes the most relaxing themes from such movies as The Mission, Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables and many others.

I recommend this CD to fans of classical crossover, soundtrack lovers and those who just need to relax with an excellent music.